


Surviving Christmas

by onlywordsnow



Series: Begin Again [1]
Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas AU, Dating, Established Relationship, F/F, F/M, Freeform, Holiday Traditions, Jeremy/Robin, christmas vacation throw back, dolls/chrissy, julian/michelle, no supernatural, randy/nicole's mom, takes place in purgatory but waverly and nicole live in nyc, wynonna/doc - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:35:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 36,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21888259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onlywordsnow/pseuds/onlywordsnow
Summary: After reconnecting hundreds of miles away from home, they go back to where they all began with a secret.  A big secret.  One that they meant to tell their families but just kind of forgot.  And now, faced with the prospect of not spending the holiday with the person they love, they just have to survive.  That should be easy, right?
Relationships: Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught, Wynonna Earp/Doc Holliday
Series: Begin Again [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1576714
Comments: 33
Kudos: 266





	1. Secrets Secrets Are No Fun

**Author's Note:**

> This is a gift for Sophie, who is, possibly, my biggest fan.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Going home leads to meltdowns and heartache.

Two steps behind as they enter the apartment, Nicole tosses her keys onto the table in the entryway. It lands with a thud and scratches across the wood, but she ignores the look she undoubtedly receives from her girlfriend. She closes the front door and locks it behind them, immediately turning on her heel and heading for the couch.

She drops her exhausted body onto it, the blue cushions shifting beneath her weight. A sigh escapes her lips and she lifts her arm to cover her eyes from the bright light shining directly above her. She kicks her shoes off, the sneakers dropping with a thud to the wood floor, and finally lets her feet breathe for the first time since 7 o’clock this morning.

“I hate this,” her girlfriend murmurs as she sets a glass of water on the table in front of Nicole.

Nicole slowly moves her arm and peers up at her. She sees the adorable pout gracing her girlfriend’s lips and immediately matches it. She fixes her voice with a whine and says, “I know, baby. I hate this too.”

“Why can’t we just tell them?”

The weight against her torso somehow manages to take her by surprise as her girlfriend straddles her waist. Cold hands press against her ribcage and she feels it through her t-shirt, tickling lightly. Instinctively, Nicole moves her hands to wrap them around slender wrists and instruct the woman forward. With the movement, the space between them gets thinner and thinner until she’s close enough for Nicole to lift up and meet her mouth in a gentle kiss. Her stomach muscles scream in protest, tired from their workout in the gym in their apartment building.

“I feel disgusting,” Nicole murmurs as she flattens her back out on the couch, “And exhausted.”

“You’ve had a long day,” her girlfriend hums, “You had to work this morning.”

“Then my girlfriend made me work out,” Nicole adds with a pout, “It was terrible.”

“Hey,” she says, slapping Nicole’s shoulder before lowering all of her weight onto her chest.

Wrapping her arms around the woman’s middle, Nicole says, “I haven’t even told them that I’m dating anyone at all. When they find out it’s you, I’m a little nervous to see how that’ll go over.”

“Am I so bad?” She asks, nose sliding along Nicole’s jawbone.

“No way, baby. You’re the best,” Nicole replies. They lay there in silence for a moment, her arms tight around her girlfriend’s waist. Nicole moves her head, tilting it up to tuck the crown of her girlfriend’s head under her chin. “I’m so happy with you that I want to just tell everyone, but my dad had that heart attack a few months ago. I just don’t want to give him another one when he finds out I’m dating Julian Adams’ daughter.”

“What is between you cops and firefighters anyway?” She asks.

“I dunno, Waves,” Nicole says, “It isn’t as bad here in the city but back home it’s almost unbearable.”

“Obviously,” Waverly says with a snort. Nicole feels her fingers slide across her neck and dig into her skin. A shiver skates down her spine and she holds Waverly tighter. “If they weren’t such jerks about it, I could bring my girlfriend home. Hell, we could take the same freaking flight.”

Nicole laughs, finding the humor in Waverly’s word choice. When the weight against her becomes lighter she stops laughing to look up at her girlfriend. Her face shows she’s less than amused. Truthfully, it isn’t funny. They had to buy separate flights home for the holidays despite their parents living across the street from one another. It would be simple for them to catch a ride together. If not for this lifelong feud between Nicole’s stepdad and Waverly’s birth father who her mother is now married to.

“At least we have the same flight out,” Nicole tries to reason.

“Ugh,” Waverly groans, “I’ll have to go almost a week without you.”

“You have an early flight,” Nicole reminds her, “Let’s take a shower and go to bed.”

🎄

Waverly wakes up to the first alarm on her phone. The sun hasn’t even begun to creep into the skyline of their 6th floor apartment when she crawls out of bed, determined to give her exhausted girlfriend just a little more time to sleep. She packed the night before. All she has to do is get changed and give herself a few final touches.

On her way to the bathroom, she trips over one of Nicole’s shoes but catches herself before it can be disastrous. She grumbles as she turns the bathroom light on, noticing that their bathroom seems to be in complete disarray from their mutual exhaustion the night before. Their dirty clothes are all over the floor and towels left right beside them, damp heaps that will no doubt need to immediately go into the laundry the moment they return.

They’ve only lived together for 6 weeks after having dated for a little over 8 months. Waverly would admit that they’re still in that love bubble where every annoying thing Nicole does is adorable, and probably the same when it comes to her own annoying habits. Even then, they spend most nights they do have together getting distracted with one another rather than being productive.

After brushing her teeth, she pulls her hair up into a bun and exits the bathroom. She leaves the light on so she can have a little bit of light until she gets into the closet. Once there, she immediately flicks the light on and finds something to wear comfortably on the plane. She settles on a pair of black yoga pants and a sweatshirt.

All changed, she exits the closet and sees that the sun is beginning to peek through the blinds. She stands in the middle of the room to stare at her girlfriend under the glow of sunlight, watching as it highlights her warm and inviting curves. The second alarm goes off and Waverly sighs, moving to shut it off. With the alarm silenced, she sweeps a hand across Nicole’s forehead to tuck the hair behind her ear.

“Morning, baby,” Waverly whispers. Nicole stirs and rolls over onto her back, throwing her arms up into a stretch. After a soft groan, Waverly finds herself being pulled down onto the bed and curled up in Nicole’s arms. She’s gasping as her girlfriend presses a soft kiss against her neck. “I need to leave soon.”

“Let me get dressed,” Nicole says.

Nicole’s hand slips beneath her sweater, fingers tracing her skin. It distracts her for a moment, makes her forget that time hasn’t stopped and is ticking away until the time her flight leaves. She blinks as Nicole’s lips press against her cheek.

“Why are you getting dressed?” Waverly asks.

Nicole is suddenly filled with energy as she hops over Waverly, the blankets all being pushed towards the foot of the bed. Waverly wonders how she always wakes with a start, so energetic and ready for the day. She watches in awe as Nicole kicks off her shorts and pulls on a pair of jeans, quickly followed by a t-shirt.

“You can’t wear that sweatshirt,” Nicole says as she crosses back from the closet. Waverly is bracketed by her forearms as Nicole leans down, placing a quick kiss to the corner of her mouth. Her hands wrap around those strong arms and squeeze. Nicole pulls back and adds, “That’s my sweatshirt.”

“I always wear this though,” Waverly says with a pout, “It’s practically mine now.”

“And you look cute in it,” Nicole says, kissing her again, “But it’s too risky.”

Waverly huffs as Nicole heads to the bathroom. She gets up and finds another sweatshirt to wear, something that doesn’t announce the police department Nicole works for. She misses the barely there smell that the sweatshirt had, the one that reminds her of Nicole. Tears begin to well in her eyes at the realization she’s going to sleep without Nicole for the first time since she moved in. She hasn’t even worked a night shift yet.

“Baby,” Nicole hums, rounding the corner and seeing her, “Hey, come here.”

Nicole immediately folds her arms around her shoulders, pulling her into a tight hug. Waverly desperately secures her arms around Nicole’s waist, not letting her move very much. Her tears press into Nicole’s t-shirt.

“I hate this,” Waverly says, pulling back and angling her chin upwards, “It sucks.”

“It does,” Nicole replies, “But I love you. A few days apart isn’t going to change that.”

Waverly nods in agreement. She pushes up onto her toes and places a soft kiss against Nicole’s mouth. Nicole’s lips part eagerly and their tongues touch, fresh breath and minty taste. The kiss deepens as Nicole’s hands slide down her sides, tickling her ribcage, and they only pull away when they need air.

“We better get to the airport,” Nicole says, still seeking air.

“But your flight doesn’t leave for a few hours,” Waverly says.

“That’s ok,” Nicole says, smiling reassuringly, “I want to spend every minute with you.”

“Well, ok,” Waverly says with a grin.

With that settled, they get their bags and head downstairs. They call an Uber on their way down and meet it in front of the building. They arrive to the airport with an hour to spare before Waverly’s flight and 3 hours before Nicole’s. Waverly tries not to cry when she boards the plane and on the flight is even harder.

This is going to be a long week.

Her flight to Lansing lands right on time. As her phone turns back on, it chimes with notifications. She’s barely able to look at the screen before the person beside her silently ushers her to stand up and begin gathering her things for exiting the plane. She tucks her phone away onto the pocket of her hoodie, University of New York.

She follows the pace of the crowd as she exits the plane, nerves and dread settling into the pit of her stomach. Waverly had lived alone after college for a few years, but when the lease on Nicole’s apartment was up it had been a no-brainer. But then Waverly had her entire flight to think about how she has 6 sleeps without the person she shares her bed at night with, and she’ll be sleeping in a room right across the street. So close and yet so far.

Waverly pulls her phone out of her pocket on her trek to baggage claim, looking at the messages on her screen.

_Baby <3: I love you _

_Nonna: Where do I pick u up?_

Waverly sighs, knowing that Nicole is in the air right now and wouldn’t get her reply text, but her heart soars at her girlfriend thinking of her. Once again, tears gather in her eyes as she waits for her bag and types out a reply to her sister. She can’t help herself and sends Nicole a few heart emoji before her bag slips out into the claim area.

She grabs her bag and makes her way outside. The air is freezing cold, especially without her normal space heater by her side, and she shivers. Upon seeing that familiar Ford F-150 out front, a warmth spreads through her. Her niece is 4 now and she’s so excited to see her again.

Wynonna pops open the passenger door and hops out, throwing her arms out and screaming. Waverly is slightly embarrassed at her sister, but she should have been expecting it. She’s just all up in her feelings about Nicole. She manages to paint on a convincing smile.

“Baby girl!” Wynonna yells, like Waverly hasn’t already seen her.

“Hey,” Waverly says slowly, dragging it out as she approaches. Wynonna immediately wraps her in a big hug the moment she’s close enough. A few years ago, Wynonna wouldn’t have been so free with her hugs, so Waverly sinks into it. “Thanks for coming to get me.”

“Of course,” Wynonna replies, something around them jingling as it crashes together when she pulls away. Waverly peers into the cab of the truck and sees her boyfriend, John Henry, behind the wheel. He smiles and tips his hat. “The little monster was so excited to see you.”

“I’m excited to see her,” Waverly says. Wynonna takes her bag from her grasp and opens the back door, depositing it onto the floorboard. Waverly climbs in, already dreading being crammed between a car seat and the door when she already misses her girlfriend. She settles in to her seat and closes the door. “Hi, John. Hi, Alice.”

John says his hello as Wynonna climbs back into the passenger seat and he takes off into the airport traffic. Alice talks for the first 10 minutes before Wynonna snaps and tells her to let her get a word in, but their subject matters are pretty much the same thing. Meanwhile, Waverly looks at her phone and sends Nicole a text. One that she won’t be getting for at least two more hours.

🎄

The taxi pulls up to the house, coming to a stop on the street, and Nicole pushes the door open. She fishes out her wallet and pays the man with her credit card, thankful that the systems have updated enough that she doesn’t have to carry cash on her at all times. The driver hands her card back and gets out of the vehicle, popping open the trunk to retrieve her luggage.

Looking up at the two story house, she notes that it hasn’t changed much, if at all. She cringes at how basic and boring it looks, no lights hanging from the house. Her dad usually likes those icicle lights, but there isn’t a single decoration for the holidays. She doesn’t understand why her mom never mentioned anything during their phone calls. Granted, she’s constantly trying to get off of the phone with her mom in fear that she’ll let her best kept secret slip.

She sighs heavily as the taxi driver sets the wheels of her bag down on the concrete, feeling frustration settle into her bones. She just needs to let it all go and get through this week. Chancing a glance towards the house across the street, she squints as she peers towards Waverly’s old bedroom window. She doesn’t see anyone, misses that smile that always warms her to her core. She’s been holding it together for Waverly’s sake, but she hates this all too.

“Thanks,” Nicole says, taking her bag.

She watches the guy get back into the taxi and drive away. Alone with her thoughts and no distraction, she goes for the front door. The walk to the big blue thing seems to take forever, each step becoming heavier and heavier and she approaches. When she finds herself staring at it, she feels weird. She hasn’t been home in so long and it’s the first time they’ve given her the days off for the holidays since she started working at the police station.

She sucks in a steadying breath before she lifts a closed fist and knocks on the door. The seconds tick away as she waits for someone to come to the door, and it opens slowly. Chrissy stands on the other side, a tiny bundle cradled in her arms as she answers with an exhausted smile and immediately gestures for Nicole to be quiet.

Nicole swallows as she enters, peeking at the baby in Chrissy’s arms and getting the first real life view of her nephew. He’s tiny and pale, but still has the features of her stepsister that are clear. Nicole smiles and closes the front door behind her, making the noise soft so as not to disturb him.

“When do I get to hold him?” Nicole asks, leaving her bags at the bottom of the stairs.

“You’ve got work to do first,” Chrissy says, laughing at her. Nicole huffs as she furrows her brows, wondering what task her mom is going to give her. Surely she could pass it off to her little sister.

“Do I want to know?” Nicole mumbles.

“Probably not,” Chrissy answers, “But it’s either you or Dad.”

“Nice to see you too, by the way,” Nicole huffs.

“You tried to steal my child,” Chrissy retorts.

“He’s my only nephew,” Nicole says defensively, holding her hands up, “I just want us to bond.”

She continues following Chrissy into the kitchen where her mom is already working away at dinner. It prompts her to check the time, to see if it’s even close to time to eat. Her stomach growls but she’s acutely aware they won’t be having dinner for at least 2 more hours.

“Hi, Mom,” Nicole says.

“Hey, honey,” her mom says, dropping the food in her hands and turning to face Nicole. She sees the excitement all over her face, pure joy at seeing her eldest daughter again. They hug for an extended period of time. When she pulls back she says, “Are you hungry?”

“Starving,” Nicole admits.

Her mother makes her a quick sandwich. It settles her angry stomach. As she finishes the last bite, her stepfather comes in from his shed and gets his hellos out of the way. Before she knows it, she’s being sent to handle the task of hanging all of the Christmas lights on the house. Damn that heart attack.

🎄

The reunion with her parents goes over rather smoothly, except for the part that Alice is in full meltdown mode and has been for at least the last hour. She, of course, only cares about her Nana right now while Julian is still at the fire station. Both John and Wynonna have been roped into being a united front to calm Alice down and they’re really hoping she will go down for a nap.

Waverly uses this time alone to shoot Nicole a text to make sure she arrived safely, but it’s been about half an hour and she hasn’t received a response. Her worry heightens at the silence. It just isn’t like Nicole to not reply rather quickly, unless she is in the middle of a call at work.

As the worry bubbles up, she hides away in her bedroom while everyone else is preoccupied. Twisting the hem of her sweatshirt in her hands, she chances a look out of the window. Relief instantly courses through her at the sight of her girlfriend in the front yard, but that relief is quickly replaced with a new worry.

She attempts a few of the breathing exercises she learned in her yoga classes but they don’t seem to work. Instead, she gives in and rushes down the stairs after checking on the meltdown. Everyone except for John seems to have given in to the sleep fairy and he doesn’t notice her appearance.

Grabbing her jacket from beside the door, she heads outside. The cold chill bites at her, drastically different than the warmth inside of the house, but she’s on a mission. The snow crunches beneath her feet and when she steps foot onto the Nedley’s driveway she nearly slips, but her presence still goes unnoticed.

Feeling overwhelmed with emotions, all she can do is stare. At least she gets to look at her girlfriend’s cute butt. Nicole must finally hear the crunch of her boots on the snow because she turns from on top of the ladder to look down at her.

“Oh, hey, Waves,” Nicole says with a grin. She comes all of the way down off of the ladder, feet planted on either side of Waverly’s feet. She can feel Nicole’s warmth but she’s truly still too far away. “You should really go back inside. It’s cold out here.”

“Alice has been having a meltdown for the last hour,” Waverly says. After a brief second of her skin going numb, she leans a little more into Nicole’s warmth. With a pout, she adds, “Plus, I saw you out the window and I got worried.”

“Me worrying you?” Nicole teases, “That’s shocking.”

“Shut up,” Waverly replies.

Instinctively, she presses her hands against Nicole’s stomach. There’s a brief second where Nicole allows it to happen before her hands circle Waverly’s and pulls them away. Still, she brings Waverly’s hands to her lips and places a kiss on her knuckles.

“I chase bad guys every day,” Nicole reminds her, “Don’t worry about a ladder.”

“I can’t help it,” Waverly says, pout deepening, “I worry about you.”

“You’re the cutest,” Nicole says, shoulders dropping the facade. Nicole drops her hands and boops her on the nose, a grin spreading even wider on her mouth. Waverly knows she’s been putting on a big front, offering kind and reassuring words, but she knows this is hard on Nicole too. “I’m lucky that you worry about me, but I’m just hanging Christmas lights on the house.”

“Thirty-four percent of holiday decorating accidents are falling,” Waverly says, voice flat.

“Baby,” Nicole says, voice hollow as she leans in a little closer but keeps her hands to herself, “I’m not falling, ok? Trust me.”

“Fine,” Waverly huffs.

“Now, either you help or you go back inside cause Chrissy isn’t going to let me hold my nephew unless this is done,” Nicole says. The mention of the baby makes Waverly’s eyes light up. She had completely forgotten about that little bundle of joy, Pearson Randall Nedley. Nicole grins at her, but catches her before she can move around her. “Remind me to give you Alice’s gift before you leave.”

“Shoot,” Waverly says, realizing she forgot it back at the apartment, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, baby,” Nicole whispers. Waverly watches as she takes a look around before stepping forward, hands pulling at Waverly’s hips. She immediately gives in. “Kiss before you go?”

Waverly laughs into the hollows of her throat while shaking her head. Nicole gives her a pout that easily wins her over. She pushes her hands against Nicole’s stomach again and lets them slide around her waist as she pushes up onto her toes. Their lips touch and Nicole’s breath is warm, but their kiss doesn’t deepen.

As she pulls away, Nicole whispers, “Ok, ok. Go inside and see that baby.”

Nicole taps her ass and urges her forward, moving towards the front door of the house. When she looks at Nicole over her shoulder, her girlfriend sends her a wink before climbing back on the ladder. Waverly sighs and enters the familiar house with the blue door. It immediately smells like home when she enters, Nicole’s mom’s cooking wafting into the entryway from the kitchen. She takes a look around the house and sees that the pictures on the wall have only changed slightly to make room for pictures of little Pearson.

She advances further into the house and smiles upon seeing Chrissy on the couch in the living room, holding the baby. Waverly does everything she can to hold in the excitement just in case he’s asleep. Locking eyes with her best friend, she wiggles her eyebrows.

“Welcome home, Waves,” Chrissy says, barely above a whisper, “You want to hold him?”

“Yes, please,” Waverly says.

Chrissy quickly hands over the baby. He’s quiet and adorable, with that fresh out of the oven smell. She sucks in a deep breath, smelling him. His skin is so soft that it almost feels foreign.

“Do you mind if I go to the bathroom? I have to pee so bad,” Chrissy says.

“I’ve got him,” Waverly says, staring at his little features. He has Chrissy’s nose and his father’s cheeks, but he still somehow looks like Nicole’s mother in certain places. Waverly absently wonders how that’s possible. She smiles down at him for a moment and when she looks away, she finds Nicole staring at her while leaning against the wall. “Don’t.”

“What?” Nicole says with a shrug, “I’m just really jealous you got to hold him before me.”

“Is that all?” Waverly asks.

“Maybe another reason too,” Nicole admits with another shrug, “But mostly the jealousy thing.”

“Oh, hush,” Waverly says with a laugh.

Chrissy quickly returns from the bathroom and Nicole excuses herself to the kitchen for a glass of water. After a few moments of asking how Chrissy has been since the baby, with Xavier being deployed before Pearson was ever born, Nicole returns. Chrissy announces she’s going to run upstairs to change the baby and Nicole takes the opportunity to grab Alice’s gift out of her bag. Overcome with sadness, she gives. Nicole’s hand a lingering squeeze before she makes her way back over to her parents’ house.

🎄

Wynonna wakes up slowly, brain feeling hazy and feeling rather disoriented after her unexpected nap. John is no longer in the bedroom, but her mother is still fast asleep with Alice cradled in her arms. At least the little demon child is finally quiet. She blinks a few times before getting up, wandering to the bathroom to empty her bladder.

She could really go for a shot of whiskey. Or two. It feels like it’s been forever since she’s had a drink.

She wanders out of the bathroom and into the living room where John sits on the couch watching an old western film. It’s one of the things she hates most about him, that he’s all cowboy and mustache and brimmed hat when he’s not at work. She never thought he would be her kind of guy. And, sometimes, he isn’t. Sometimes they break up for a few days but they ultimately get back together. Because he’s a good dad, he’s a good lay, and she kind of likes him. He definitely makes it on the list of top 5 favorite people in the world and that’s saying something.

The sight of him so engrossed in that boring western annoys her so she decides to treat herself to a well-earned drink. Just a tiny one. She deserves it after the headache Alice has given her. And she needs to do something good with her silence. At least he’s considerate enough to turn the volume on those westerns way down.

She wanders into the kitchen where her mother and Julian keep the good whiskey, in a cabinet so high that Alice can’t reach. As she screws the lid off she looks out of the window and across the street. Blinking, she wonders if her brain is still foggy at what she’s seeing - her baby sister standing very close to Nicole Haught. She blinks rapidly for a moment, thinking that perhaps she’s imagining things. But, no. She is absolutely certain that the two are kissing.

She finally takes a big drink of the whiskey bottle in her hand, not even worried about leaving her germs on the opening of it.

When she lowers the bottle, Waverly is heading inside of the house with the blue door. Like that boy in blue who took their daddy’s role when he was killed. She narrows her gaze and leans against the counter with one palm holding her up, continuing to watch that no good flat foot hang Christmas lights up on the house.

“Whoa,” John says in his thick accent, mustache slightly muffling his voice, “Hitting the hard stuff so early in the afternoon?”

“It’s been awhile,” Wynonna mumbles.

She can’t tell anyone what she saw, not even John.

What if she had been seeing things? She did just wake up from an unexpected nap. She drowns her confusion with another mouthful of whiskey before she hands the bottle over to John. He thanks her and takes his own swig before returning the cap to the bottle and putting it away.

She will definitely get to the bottom of this.

🎄

By sun down Nicole only has the downstairs portion of lights hung and will absolutely have to wake up at sunrise to finish the job. Still, it’s a job she can’t do without light so she puts the ladder away in the garage and closes it. The door roars to life and lowers, separating her from every chance she might get of catching sight of her girlfriend’s glowing smile. With a defeated sigh, she goes inside.

The house smells even more like her favorite meal than it had earlier in the evening. The only downside of dating Waverly is that she never gets her favorite meal, beef wellington, because most of their meals together are vegan. She doesn’t complain because she truly does need to eat healthier, and she also knew what she was getting into before they even went on their first date, but she misses meat sometimes.

“Smells great mom,” Nicole yells as she peels her jacket off. She hangs it on the coat rack and pulls her phone out of her pocket. She has a few missed texts from Waverly that she immediately reads.

_Waves: This sucks_

_Waves: I wish you were here_

_Waves: I’m having a really hard time remembering why we can’t tell them_

Nicole sighs, all of the sadness gathering in her shoulders as she types out her next message. They have to plan their announcement carefully. She hasn’t even had her entire family in the same room yet and she really needs to feel them out. Especially where her dad is concerned.

She puts her phone back into her pocket and heads into the kitchen. Her mother has moved on to baking cookies and all she can do is be abundantly grateful that she doesn’t have to be on decorating duty anymore. Smirking when she looks at Randy as he decorates a snowman shaped cookie.

“I don’t even want to hear it,” he grumbles when he catches Nicole looking.

Her phone vibrates in her pocket but she ignores it in front of her family. She laughs and gently shakes her head. She holds up her hands and says, “I didn’t say anything.”

“Well, don’t even think it,” he replies.

“I wasn’t,” Nicole says.

She moves away from the pair, letting her mom and Randy crowd around the island to continue decorating the cookies. As she takes a seat in a chair at the small kitchen table, she pulls her phone out and looks at the message. Waverly’s replied to her message (I love you, baby. Hang in there) with a picture of Alice smiling. Nicole can’t help grinning as she replies, _She’s adorable. Like her aunt._

“What’s got you smiling at your phone like that?” Nicole’s mom asks.

“Oh, uh,” Nicole says, quickly tucking her phone away into her pocket. She stands up from the table and sucks in a deep breath. She really wanted to get a better idea of which way this might go before she said anything. She swallows the lump gathering in her throat, trying to brace herself for dropping a huge bomb in them. “There’s something-“

“I’m home!” Interrupts her.

She shuts her mouth quickly, deciding that now really isn’t the time to tell anyone such big news. A thunderous sound comes down the stairs, a rush from Chrissy as she plans to undoubtedly scold Nicole’s little sister. It doesn’t take long to hear Chrissy’s shushing float through the house, which makes both Nicole’s mom and Randy laugh.

“In here, Sweetie,” her mom calls back once her laughter has subsided.

“Hey,” Devon says as she enters the kitchen. She swipes an unfinished cookie from in front of Randy and immediately takes a bite out of it. Nicole’s little sister is almost as tall as she is, but with much longer hair. She’s been growing it out for quite some time. Chrissy is two steps behind Devon, scowling ever so slightly. “I just saw that our hot neighbor is back.”

Devon wiggles her eyebrows suggestively while Chrissy’s scowl deepens. Nicole just stares at her confused to what she’s talking about as she leans against the kitchen island. Chrissy snatches the cookie and puts it back down on the island. Nicole shrugs and picks it up, taking a bite.

“Her name is Waverly,” Chrissy corrects, “And you’ve known her like your entire life.”

“Have not,” Devon mumbles while she chews.

“You have too,” Nicole adds around her bite of cookie, “And you shouldn’t say that about her.”

“Oh please,” Devon says with a laugh, “She’s hot. You know she’s hot, and don’t lie to me.”

“Oh my god,” Chrissy snaps, clutching the baby monitor in her hand quite tightly, “That’s my best friend.”

“Yeah,” Nicole chimes in, standing up straighter, “That’s her best friend.”

“Still didn’t deny it,” Devon says with a smirk.

Nicole huffs. Of course she isn’t going to deny that she thinks her girlfriend is hot. It isn’t her fault they don’t know Waverly is her girlfriend. Ok, maybe it’s her fault a little bit. But she’s wanted to tell them in person and she hasn’t seen them much since her and Waverly started dating. Except that one time Randy had a heart attack and that timing was just not right.

“Ok, fine,” Nicole relents, “She’s hot. Of course I think she’s hot. I have eyes.”

“Oh,” Devon says loudly, like she’s only realizing something, “You two live in the same city. Did you know you two live in the same city?”

“I am aware,” Nicole replies. Sighing, she runs a hand through her hair and absently wonders how they even got on this topic of conversation. The last thing she wants is to talk about her girlfriend behind her back. Suddenly, it hits her that Devon knows where Waverly lives. “Wait. How did you know where she lives?”

“Her insta,” Devon answers with a shrug.

“Oh,” Nicole says with genuine surprise. She wasn’t exactly aware Waverly had an Instagram account. Partially because she stays off of social media as much as possible and the rest because every conversation they’ve had about social media ends in Waverly calling it toxic. An uneasy feeling settles into the pit of her stomach and she feels like she’s going to throw up. “I’m gonna run to the bathroom.”

“Dinner’s ready in ten,” her mom calls after her as she leaves the kitchen.

Her phone vibrates in her pocket but she just can’t deal with it right now.

🎄

Explaining that she’s vegan for the umpteenth time proves to be as difficult as the first umpteenth times as she has to ask for every single ingredient in each individual dish. Finally, her plate is settled with Brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes. Not exactly what she would want, but beggars can’t be choosers.

She smiles at her mother across the table before taking a mouthful of Brussels sprouts. She sinks her teeth into the food and chews, chews, chews until the pieces are small enough to swallow. Her mother still isn’t smiling back.

“So what made you decide to be vegan?” Her mother finally asks, the one word holding so much disdain.

Waverly sighs, not understanding why she has to describe her choices to yet another person. She begins to push food around her plate, missing Nicole and her support. Nicole would reach over and grab her hand and squeeze until she has the strength or courage to answer however she pleases.

“I saw a TED talk about the damage that meat processing does to our environment,” Waverly explains, “Also, the general lack of humanity when it comes to care for the animals.”

“I think it’s great, Sweetie,” her father chimes in. Waverly gives him a smile, appreciating how supportive he’s always been of all of her choices. He smiles back before taking a bite of his roasted turkey. He chews and swallows. “There’s this guy at the firehouse I want you to meet.”

“Dad,” Waverly whines.

“I know, I know,” he says, “But he’s a nice guy and-“

“She doesn’t have to date a dude,” Wynonna interjects.

“Wynonna,” their mother hisses.

“I just don’t know any single, available girls who would be interested,” he says. Waverly gives him a reassuring smile. He at least has the decency to be embarrassed. He sets down his fork and reaches over, laying his hand on top of Waverly’s. “I’m sorry, Sweetie. I just worry.”

“I know, Dad,” she says, “But I don’t even live here.”

“Besides,” Wynonna says, giving a mischievous smile like she’s trying to stir the pot, “She might be dating somebody. Did you ask her if she’s dating somebody?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Michelle says, “What matters is that she’s happy.”

“Are you happy, Sweetie?” Her dad asks.

She hesitates. She doesn’t know why. Well, she has some idea why. She hesitates because she’s happy with Nicole but she already misses her so much, wishes that they could be sharing this together. She could just tell them right now and put it all out there. Cause she is happy.

She smiles and nods slowly. She says, “Yes.”

“Then who am I to argue with that?” He says. He squeezes her hand once more before going back to eating.

“Since no one else is going to ask,” Wynonna says, “Are you dating anyone, baby girl?”

Waverly eyes her sister very carefully but before she can answer, Alice takes a handful of potatoes and throws them at Wynonna. Silently, she thanks her niece for the diversion. She stifles a laugh as she watches her sister’s shocked face. She doesn’t get the opportunity to see Wynonna in the motherly role much, but it’s interesting to see her be stern about anything.

“Oh, honey,” Michelle says, immediately coddling Alice as Wynonna starts screaming.

Another meltdown seems to start and her father just gives her a smile like this is the normal around here.

🎄

Nicole manages to get out of staying downstairs for too long after dinner with the excuse that she has to wake up early to finish the Christmas light decorations outside. Despite retiring early, she can’t sleep. She spends most of the night tossing and turning without her girlfriend’s weight beside her. Around 4am, she finally gives up trying to sleep and takes a nice, warm shower.

Once getting dressed, she goes downstairs and starts the coffee maker. After a few minutes, it starts pouring out steaming liquid and Nicole grabs a mug from the cabinets. Good thing her parents still keep everything in the same place. And they have since they got married nearly 20 years ago.

Nicole was 8 when her mom and Randy got married. He had been so good with them, and they had been really good at blending the three of them together. She had really appreciated having Randy many times in her life, a father who shows up. He’s been the dad for her that her actual dad isn’t. That’s why, she reminds herself, that she really doesn’t mind being awake at the crack of dawn to do this for him.

At the first sight of the sun, she heads back to the garage. She gets the ladder and the string of lights to head out into the cold morning air. It looks like it snowed a little bit more overnight, but the street sweeper has already made its way through the neighborhood. Devon’s car is packed in with snow and Nicole makes a mental note to clean it off as soon as she’s done hanging the lights.

It’s nearly 10am when she puts up the last strand. She returns the ladder to the garage and makes her way to Devon’s car on the street. After cleaning it off, she goes back inside to a rather loud house. Her stomach is growling and her phone has a few missed notifications. She taps out a reply to Waverly, mostly trying to be reassuring and reminding her that they will see each other later. If she’s being honest, she’s looking forward to this little time their families always spend in the same place and hopes that she can get a moment in with her.

With Christmas in 2 days, the weight is starting to press down on her. She’s trying to spend time with her family, spend some time with her nephew before she goes back home, but there’s someone else she wishes were here with her. With a heavy sigh, she sheds her jacket and hangs it by the doorway.

Pearson is crying in the living room, screaming at the top of his lungs. When she first sees him, she’s instantly worried about his red his face. Her instincts try to kick in, the cop ones, but she ignores them to let Chrissy deal with it. Nicole heads into the kitchen where Devon and her mother are working around each other to make food. She absently wonders where Randy is.

“Hey, honey,” her mom greets upon seeing her.

“It’s the golden child,” Devon adds sarcastically.

“Am not,” Nicole says weakly.

“Thanks for putting up the lights,” her mom says, ignoring them, “I think I would have had a heart attack myself if Randy got up there and did it.”

“It’s no problem,” Nicole says.

“You’re my only child who would,” her mom replies, giving Devon a hard look. Devon rolls her eyes but decides to not take the bait. For once. “Plus, Chrissy has her hands full with that baby.”

“Too bad her hunk of man meat got deployed,” Devon says with a sigh.

Nicole narrows her eyes at her sister, wondering why she just sounded so airy. She realizes Devon is staring off into the distance, distracted from her task of egg making. Nicole says, “Jesus, is there anyone you aren’t lusting after?”

“Might take my chance with the hot neighbor,” Devon says cheekily, bumping her hip against Nicole’s. Eyes widening, she shakes her head in protest almost too quickly. “One of us should take our shot.”

“One of us?” Nicole says, voice getting higher like maybe Devon knows more than she’s letting on. Nicole sighs when her phone vibrates in her pocket, undoubtedly her girlfriend replying. “You know what...forget it.”

Devon smirks.

“I’m so excited you get to go to the First Responder’s event with us this year, Nicky,” her mom says. Nicole smiles tightly, the nickname feeling weird to hear again since no one else really calls her that. Nicole watches as her mom pauses in her food making tasking to lean over Devon’s shoulder, laying a hand on her arm. “Remember when we used to go to the rink for your hockey?”

Devon’s smirk slips.

“Mom,” Devon snaps, “I told you I don’t want to talk about my old life.”

“Sorry,” her mom huffs, turning back to her food, not really sounding sincere at all.

“Can’t we just get through one day without bringing it up?” Devon says, immediately storming out of the room.

“I just don’t understand why it’s such a big deal,” her mom mutters.

“Uh, I’ll go talk to her,” Nicole volunteers, following Devon out of the kitchen. She takes the stairs two at a time in an attempt to catch up. She doesn’t quite catch Devon before she can enter her bedroom, but she does keep the door from slamming in her face. “Hey, wait.”

Devon huffs before letting Nicole in. The door is shut softly behind her and she takes a look around. A little bit has changed about the room. The hockey posters are gone and she’s replaced them with a few elegant pictures in frames. She still sees a few photos of the three of them - Devon and Chrissy and her - but they’re all from recent years. Nicole feels the guilt bubble inside of her at her own nostalgia.

She watches as Devon sits on the edge of her mattress before she takes a seat in her really cheap desk chair, turning the back towards Devon before doing so. She swallows, wishing she knew the right words to say, but she hasn’t really been here to witness Devon’s journey. All she knows to do is apologize for being so...absent.

“Mom doesn’t mean anything by it, you know. She’s just nostalgic,” Nicole says.

“Don’t you dare stick up for her,” Devon says.

“Sorry, sorry,” Nicole says quickly, “Not the right thing to say. I just...she loves you. We all love you. I don’t know why it’s so hard for her.”

“She keeps asking me if I’m going to change my name,” Devon says, “I love my name.”

“It’s a good name. It suits you,” Nicole replies. She sighs and stands up, moving to the spot beside Devon on the bed. Pulling her sister into a hug, Nicole lets them sit in silence for a moment. Finally, she says, “I’m sorry I’m not here.”

“No, don’t be sorry for that,” Devon says, “You can’t let us hold you back.”

“I know,” Nicole says with a sigh, “But I feel like I’ve missed so much around here. Between Dad having the heart attack and Chrissy having the baby...besides, I don’t even know what’s been going on with you.”

“Well, I don’t know what’s been going on with you either,” Devon says with an elbow to Nicole’s stomach.

She skips a breath and lifts a hand to the spot Devon hit, shaking her head. Her phone vibrates in her pocket again and her chest aches, missing the constant communication and contact she usually has with Waverly. Maybe she can tell one person.

“I’ve been...busy,” Nicole admits. The silence hangs between them. She feels Devon look at her sharply for a moment before she turns her gaze towards her sister. “My life is great. I’ve been dating someone and she’s...she’s awesome.”

Devon stares at her, mouth opening in awe like she’s getting poised to say something.

“Don’t tell anyone, please,” Nicole says, cutting Devon off before she can say anything, “I’m getting to it. I just need things to settle down a little bit before I tell them.”

“Great,” Devon says under her breath, “A secret you expect me to keep.”

“Not for much longer,” Nicole says with a sigh.

🎄

Waverly arrives early to the First Responders Event, accompanying her father so she can get some time alone with him.

Well, away from her family.

After getting nearly no sleep and freezing half to death throughout the night, she needs a little peace and quiet. Helping him set up the firefighters’ booth is somewhat relaxing, at least it gives her a job to do. He’s always been a quiet man in the morning, slightly more talkative with her than others, but this morning he seems to be extra quiet.

“Dad,” Waverly ventures softly. He seems to be staring off into space until he looks at her slowly, smiling instantly when his eyes land on her. She doesn’t understand what’s going on, but it’s something. He’s being...quiet. “Is everything ok?”

“Yes, Sweetie,” he says. He’s graying around the edges of his hair, but the brunette strands she inherited from him are still bold. He runs a hand through his short hair and sighs. “Sorry. I’m sorry. I’m so happy you’re home.”

“Me too,” Waverly says with a nod.

“Things are just crazy at the house,” he admits, “Alice is definitely in her difficult stages. There’s a lot going on at work too. I don’t mean to be so...absent.”

“It’s ok,” Waverly assures.

“Are you sure?” He asks, sighing so much that his shoulders slump, “Because something seems...off. You can talk to me; you know?”

Waverly nods. Her phone finally vibrates with a response. She knows her girlfriend is awake because she saw her outside lining the Nedley house with lights when they left for the rink, but she hasn’t heard from her today. It’s worrying Waverly a little bit, that they haven’t spoken much and when they have, Nicole’s responses have been short and to the point.

Maybe it would all be easier if Waverly just told her dad about them. She should. She would. But she doesn’t want to make Nicole mad. Worst case their families lose their minds and they can just go stay at a hotel. Or maybe even at Gus and Curtis’. They don’t seem to hold the same feud.

She swallows and decides to choose her words carefully. She doesn’t have to tell him everything. She can just tell him some things. That’ll go over better.

“Would it...bother you if I told you I’m dating somebody?” Waverly blurts out, “Would you be upset?”

“No, honey, no,” Julian says, “I couldn’t be upset with you about that. Not if they treat you right.”

“The best,” Waverly says with a small smile, “They’re kind and thoughtful and just the sweetest. I guess I just...miss her.”

She braces herself for his reaction. The truth is that she told them years ago about her sexuality, but since then she’s never really actually dated someone. Nothing long term anyway. No one as big and important as Nicole. In fact, Waverly’s pretty sure every future she pictures has Nicole in it.

“Why didn’t you bring her?” Her father asks.

“I couldn’t just spring it on you,” Waverly says, looking away to hide her guilt, “And, I don’t know, I just feel like it’s all happened so fast. One minute we’re on our first date and the next it’s been eight months and we forgot to tell our families.”

“Eight months,” her dad repeats.

She can see the disappointment on his face. It’s Christmas Eve Eve and she’s finally managed to disappoint her father. For the first time in her life. She might as well go build an igloo and live in it. Absently, she kicks at the snow.

There’s silence between them as he finishes hanging up the strand of lights on the wall of the rink. It’s then that Waverly realizes she isn’t being very helpful at all and she’s overwhelmed with guilt. She watches as her takes a step back and turn around, leaning his weight against the wall as he folds his arm over his chest.

“Is it my fault?” He asks suddenly.

“What?” She says, voice small. She feels like a child again. She feels like she won’t be able to say anything right, that it’s all downhill from here. “Is what your fault?”

“That you didn’t tell us,” he says, looking at his boots, “That you didn’t tell me. Was I not supportive enough?”

“It’s complicated,” Waverly answers truthfully.

She isn’t entirely sure but that doesn’t seem to be good enough for him. There’s so many depths to reason that it’s complicated. She’s asked herself numerous times how she could fall in love with the girl from across the street hundreds of miles from home, how that could be possible. All she knows is that she now believes in right place, right time.

“How can it be complicated?” Julian says, “I want to meet someone if they’re important to you.”

“I know,” Waverly says, dropping her own gaze. It hurts her to see her father so sad. He’s always so strong, so kind, and he always knows the right thing to say. She could really use his comfort right now.

“I’m sorry you miss her,” he says, “It’s always hard to be apart from someone you care about.”

“Yeah,” Waverly says, releasing a deep breath, “Harder than I ever knew it could be.”

“Did I ever tell you about me and your mother?” He asks.

She instinctively cringes at the thought but quickly fixes her reaction into a smile. She lightly shakes her head, wondering if she’s going to get a version of the story she’s never heard before. All she knows is that they’ve never gotten married, she doesn’t even have her dad’s last name, but they love each other very much. He’s always taken care of her sisters and never once considered him less than his own. Even if they did test him sometimes.

Children are screaming all around her and she knows she should be used to it by now, being the curator at a museum and all, but she just isn’t. It’s a lot and all it manages to do a feed into her sadness. When the rest of her family arrived, she saw them all filled with love and it made her miss Nicole even more.

Now, she’s using the excuse of having to use the bathroom to wander around the festively decorated garden. It has a sleigh poised in the middle with lots of trees wrapped in Christmas lights surrounding it. It’s decorated this way every year, with a new addition every once in a while. No one else seems to be enjoying the decorations with her. Probably because the lights don’t shine as bright in the sunlight.

She sighs, sitting on a freezing bench about 10 feet away from the sleigh. From where she sits, she can see that there’s a mechanic Santa waving to no one in particular in a pre-programmed pattern. She feels really guilt about her conversation with her dad, making him feel like he did something wrong when he’s never done anything to make her scared to be open with him.

She can still hear screaming and Christmas music in the distance, but it’s quieter now. She feels a tear slip down her cheek. It causes a chill to run its course through her.

“Hey,” comes a stable voice, warm and addictive.

“Hey,” Waverly replies, turning her head to look at Nicole. She turns her head away and wipes at her eyes, hoping to keep them unnoticed. She can tell it doesn’t work when Nicole looks at her with more love than she’s ever felt. “How’d you find me?”

“My cop senses,” she teases. Waverly can’t help but laugh at that, despite feeling all of the emotion of the last few days pouring out of her. Nicole sighs like she feels helpless, but Waverly’s too afraid to look at her to find out. “Hey, come ‘ere.”

She feels Nicole wrap her hand up and tug, requesting her into a standing position. She complies, following Nicole’s lead over to the sleigh. Wordlessly, Nicole helps her up into it before following her. They sit at the same time, their bodies immediately pressing together as Nicole drapes her arm across the back of the sleigh. She feels Nicole’s fingers against her arm, sliding up and down like she’s summoning warmth.

“Why are you crying, baby?” Nicole murmurs quietly.

She sucks in a deep breath, doing everything she can to stay calm, but when she turns her eyes to Nicole’s caring and supportive face it all comes pouring out.

“God, I think I upset my dad. He thinks he did something wrong. I think he’s disappointed in me. I hurt his feelings,” Waverly admits.

“How did you hurt his feelings?” Nicole asks, fingers tightening against her arm.

“Because of this, us,” Waverly says, huffing but not out of frustration, “Because he thinks I feel like I can’t tell him things.”

“Did you tell him?” Nicole asks slowly.

“Not about you specifically,” Waverly says, “I wanted to, but I didn’t want to upset you.”

“You won’t upset me,” Nicole says, “You should tell him. I want them all to know.”

“I don’t want them in our business either,” Waverly replies. She’s afraid of the questions that their families will ask, how much they’ll try to meddle. Her and Nicole have found a good thing. A great thing. And, looking at her, Waverly thinks, probably a forever thing.

“It’ll just be for a few days,” Nicole reminds her, “Then we’ll go home to our little apartment in the city six hundred miles away where we don’t have to listen to what any of them say about it.”

“I know you’re right, I do,” Waverly starts, “And I really just wish you were there with me.”

“Me too,” Nicole says softly. It warms her heart to feel the sincerity in Nicole’s voice. She feels Nicole’s cold fingers on her cheek and she turns her head to look at her. “I’m gonna tell them tonight. I don’t know how the rest of this trip will work out but I want us to figure it out, ok?”

Waverly sighs and leans her forehead against Nicole’s, lifting her hand to Nicole’s neck. Her muscles flex beneath Waverly’s fingertips and she closes her eyes in wait until Nicole’s warm mouth touches hers. She feels like the piece of her that’s been missing is filled and it lingers even when Nicole pulls back. She smiles softly, leaning back into the seat and holding Waverly tighter.

After a few moments of sinking into Nicole’s embrace, she says, “I heard you have an Instagram.”

“I only post stuff about work,” Waverly replies. She lets her hand drift from Nicole’s shoulder to her stomach. Absently, she scratches and Nicole must feel it through her jacket because she grabs Waverly’s hand and entwines their fingers together.

“Devon found it,” Nicole says and chuckles in the back of her throat, “She thinks you’re hot, by the way.”

“Sorry, I’m taken,” Waverly says with a grin.

“You sure are, baby,” Nicole enthusiastically agrees.

🎄

Chrissy sure can talk. That’s one of the things Nicole has forgotten as they sit at the dinner table in their dining room with Waverly sitting right across from her, right next to Chrissy. Of course Chrissy had done the honors of inviting Waverly to dine with them, her best friend who lives in a land far, far away who she never sees. Nicole is absolutely not jealous. After all, she sees Waverly all the time.

Eventually, they finish eating and all wander outside to watch her light the house up and admire her handy work. She did spend a good portion of time on it and it is part of their tradition. They gather around outside, huddle up, and watch Randy turn on the lights. This year she gets the honors since she hung them.

She stands closest to the house, extension cord in one hand and the power cord in the other. Her family is staring at her. And Waverly. Her family and Waverly are staring at her. Waverly is clutching Chrissy’s arm tightly, smiling like the proudest woman on the planet. Nicole looks at Waverly for a long time, blood whooshing through her veins and warming her belly while all of those butterflies erupt from their cage for probably the thousandth time.

Nicole smiles then, staring at Waverly. Waverly smiles even wider somehow, eyes crinkling. She nods at Nicole and Nicole nods back.

First, she expels a breath, the fog floating into the night sky above her. Second, she closes her eyes. Third, she counts to three. Silently. In her head.

She holds her breath and opens her eyes, pushing the 3 prong adapter into the socket of the extension cord.

She thinks, _And let there be-_

Nothing happens.

Her mouth drops open. She looks at the connection, Waverly, the connection, Randy, her mom, the connection, Waverly again, the connection, Devon, Waverly, the connection, Chrissy, the house, Waverly, the connection.

“What the fuck?” She finally says. She looks at Waverly again. She groans. “Ok, hang on.”

“Did you plug it in?” Randy asks.

“Yes, I plugged it in,” Nicole snaps.

She follows the extension cord all of the way to the outlet just to make sure it’s plugged into the house. It is. It’s secured tightly. She pulls her phone out of her pocket and shines the flashlight on the outlet, pushing the teeny tiny reset button just below the top receiver, and...still nothing.

“Did you check the lights?” Her mom asks.

“I checked the lights,” Nicole says with a sigh. She turns the flashlight off of her phone and shoves it back into her pocket. Standing up, she drags a hand through her hair before pushing both of her palms against her temples. “Twice. I checked them twice. I hung them on the house. I checked them again. And now...this is a fucking disaster.”

“Nicole,” she hears Waverly start.

“No,” Nicole says loudly, dropping her hands and slapping her thighs, “It’s a disaster. Nothing you say is going to make this anything less than a disaster.”

“Nicole,” Waverly tries again.

“No,” Nicole says, louder this time, “I spent hours working on this. It’s supposed to work.”

“Nicole,” Devon this time.

“Wait, hang on,” Nicole says, turning her back to the group. She follows the cord trail and looks at it. She unplugs it and plugs it back in. That usually works.

The baby monitor in Chrissy’s hand goes off, the echo reverberating off of the snow. Nicole feels Pearson’s crying in her chest, thinking about how relatable that is right now. She sighs, frustration boiling and boiling and boiling.

“I have to get him,” Chrissy says. She doesn’t wait for a response but excuses herself, moving around Nicole’s disaster and going into the house. The door closing sounds so, so loud right now.

“I need to take the cookies out of the oven,” her mom says, following Chrissy’s path.

“It’s fucking freezing,” Devon says, dramatically chattering her teeth and practically running into the house before their mother can close the door.

Randy sighs and steps forward, plopping his hand on her shoulder and squeezing. He says, “You did good kid.”

He also goes inside.

It’s just her and Waverly, standing outside in the freezing cold.

“Baby,” Waverly says softly, practically floating closer and closer until her gloved hands are cupping Nicole’s face, “Just breathe, ok? It’s ok.”

“Easy for you to say,” Nicole snorts, “You didn’t disappoint your dad by being a failure.”

“You did not disappoint that man,” Waverly says, sliding her hands down Nicole’s chest, “He’s so proud of you. I’m proud of you.”

“Ugh, look at your house,” Nicole says, gesturing behind Waverly’s back, “It’s so fucking bright they can see it from space. You know how important this is to our dads.”

“It’s stupid,” Waverly replies, “Every year they do this. Maybe this year it isn’t a big deal.”

“Of course you say that,” Nicole says, “You’re winning.”

“Hey,” Waverly says softly and grasps Nicole’s hips, “This is not me versus you, ok? We are a team.”

Nicole blinks, wildly. She turns beneath Waverly’s hands and looks at the house. The blinking stops as she stares, hoping that perhaps she can get the lights to come on out of sheer will.

“Why don’t you head home and warm up, yeah?” Nicole suggests, not even looking at Waverly, “I’m going to just have one more look.”

“Please don’t do this,” Waverly asks, sighing in frustration as she lifts her hand to pinch the bridge of her nose.

“I’m going to fix it,” Nicole says, “I did not miss out on time with my nephew for nothing.”

She looks back at Waverly and smiles. Her girlfriend really doesn’t seem convinced. She leans forward and presses her lips to Waverly’s forehead, the kiss lingering. God, her skin is freezing.

“Please go warm up,” Nicole says, “I can’t have you freezing to death. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

Finally, she sees Waverly smile. The tension between them falls as Waverly leans forward to place a chaste kiss against her mouth. Nicole watches her cross the street back to her house and once she’s closed the front door behind her, gets back to work.


	2. Stitched Together With Good Intentions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Every scheme bursts open at the seams.

Julian Adams knows a few things. He knows that he loves his wife, his daughters, his granddaughter. He knows that he wants them all to be happy and he will do whatever it Damn well takes to make that happen. Even when his pride and joy moves hundreds of miles away and doesn’t tell him when she’s dating someone.

Even then.

He doesn’t have to like everything she does, but he decides to support her anyway. Even when she’s dating someone in a city that will keep her tied there instead of her coming home. He will support her because she’s happy. Or because she says she’s happy.

But she doesn’t seem very happy.

Especially when she comes back into the house after having dinner at the Nedley’s across the street.

It isn’t that he hates them by any means. In fact, Chrissy spent just as much time at their house as Waverly spent at the Nedley’s. There are a lot of things he likes about the family. But there’s one thing about them that he’s never really understood...

What the hell Randy Nedley’s problem with him is.

After a few minutes of watching television, Waverly comes back into the living room. She hands him a hot mug and he immediately takes a big whiff. He smiles.

“Hot chocolate?” He asks before taking a drink.

“Mmhmm,” Waverly hums.

He takes a drink. It’s hot, scalding, and burns his tongue. He should know better considering he’s the chief of the fire department, but he just wants to make his daughter happy. Her smile isn’t touching her eyes.

“It’s delicious,” he comments.

He must sound weird because she says, “Burn your tongue?”

He nods and she laughs, polite and kind. It’s a quality that she gets from her mother. At least he thinks so. Considering Michelle is always putting everyone else in this family above herself.

“How was dinner?” He asks.

“It was good,” Waverly says, “Lily’s a good cook. I don’t think she’s ever made something that tastes bad. Plus, she made zucchini pasta with pesto. Did you know she has her own pasta maker?”

“I did not,” he replies. He takes another drink, still hot but less so. He’s been thinking about their conversation earlier and all of the times she’s mentioned dating. He feels bad, realizing that he never once asked about a girl. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to keep apologizing for things, Dad,” Waverly says, smiling as she kicks off her shoes. He watches her curl her feet up beneath her and hug her tighter. She’s always freezing. She gets that from him. Probably one of the reasons he’s drawn to fire. “I know you have good intentions.”

“I just never meant to make you think I wasn’t...ok with you loving who you love,” he says. He doesn’t look at her, but he knows the lines on his face are riddled with embarrassment. He sighs and watches the replay of Dalvin Cook scoring a touchdown. “So if I made you feel like you couldn’t bring her home then I’m sorry.”

“You didn’t,” Waverly says all too quickly, “Actually, I want to talk to you about that.”

“I’m all ears,” he says.

“So,” Waverly starts but hesitates for a second, “Can you do me a favor and-“

“Papa,” Alice interrupts. He looks towards the sound and sees her standing at the bottom of the stairs. Leaning forward, he sets his mug on the coffee able. “I can’t sleep.”

“Come here,” he says, opening his arms to her.

She rubs her eyes as she crosses the room. Alice crawls into his lap and she clutches at his t-shirt, Purgatory Fire Dept. Waverly forgets about whatever she was going to say and talks to Alice. He feels guilty. He only has so much time with his daughter and he can’t even devote his attention to her.

Alice falls asleep in half an hour. He runs her upstairs and puts her back to bed. By the time he comes back downstairs, Waverly is gone.

🎄

There’s an eerie tap on her window that breaks her concentration. After coming to her bedroom while her dad was putting Alice back to bed, she booted up her laptop and started working on some projects for work. She blinks and looks at the clock. She must have lost track of the time. The tap happens again and she gets off of her bed to go look out the window.

There’s a dark figure standing on their front lawn and the moonlight reflects off of the snow enough for her to make out Nicole’s features. Quickly, she unlocks her window and pushes it open. The cold engulfs her immediately and she shivers. Regardless, she sticks her head out of the window.

“What?” She whisper yells.

“Come down here,” Nicole whisper yells back.

“It’s freezing,” Waverly says.

“Please,” Nicole begs.

Waverly groans and shuts her window. She finds her boots and pulls them back on, realizing that she hadn’t even bothered to change into her sleep clothes. She’s exhausted but she can’t sleep. Something about Nicole missing from her space that’s just keeping her awake.

Quietly, she goes down the stairs. She even manages to avoid the creak on the third step from the bottom. The living room is dark and empty. She grabs her jacket and pulls it tightly around her before leaving the house.

When she opens the door, Nicole is leaning against the pillar with her hands in her jacket pockets. The porch light is off but she’s lit by the moonlight behind her. She looks beautiful. Waverly’s heart lurches into her throat and sticks there. She forgets how to move, how to breathe, and it takes Nicole taking her hand to remind her.

“What’s going on?” Waverly whispers.

“You gotta see this,” Nicole replies.

“It’s two in the morning,” Waverly says.

“Please,” Nicole repeats.

Waverly sighs.

Truthfully, her girlfriend doesn’t ask for much. She never complains that they eat what Waverly wants. She almost always does the dishes. She looks at Waverly like she’s the only person in the room. And she keeps her warm enough that she only needs 2 blankets instead of 4. She can do this one thing for her.

“Ok,” Waverly relents.

Nicole guides her back across the street and instructs her to stand in the same spot as earlier. Silently, she complies, making a dramatic show of planting her feet into the snow. She watches as Nicole moves back towards the house and picks up the end of the string of lights with one hand, extension cord with the other. Slowly, almost as if time has slowed, she connects the two pieces.

The house lights up. It’s bright icicle lights hang from every corner of the roof line and the windows of each bedroom have a unique strand of lights. The tree in the right front yard has a neon pink color, somehow appearing to have the shape of a heart. The tree in the left front yard has a strand of lights every foot from left to right of its branches, proudly shining the colors of a rainbow.

Waverly blinks and smiles as she watches Nicole take in every inch of the house. On the roof of it, lights are in the shape of a Christmas tree with strands swirled into a circle to make little balls to hang on fake tree limbs. It makes Waverly think about their one day, the possibility of their own traditions together, how they could maybe decorate their own house.

“Baby,” Waverly coos softly, “It’s beautiful.”

“You think?” Nicole asks, tone lined with excitement.

Her eyes settle on Waverly with that same look in them that she always gets when they look at each other for just a nanosecond longer than they mean to. Waverly nods and moves towards her. The snow crunches beneath her feet and the noise matches the low hum of the Christmas lights.

Settling her hands on Nicole’s hips, she pulls her closer until the toes of their shoes touch.

“You’re beautiful,” Nicole says. It’s deep and low, like her throat is dry. She’s been out here for nearly 4 hours trying to get the Christmas light fiasco taken care of.

Nicole’s hands push against her spine and slide down, down, down until they’re pulling at the back of Waverly’s thighs and she’s being lifted off of the ground. Nicole looks up at her and grins. Waverly has to steady herself by grasping Nicole’s shoulders, thumbs pinching at her collarbones.

“You might actually be crazy,” Waverly says. She moves her hands to Nicole’s neck and she feels how cold she is. For a moment, Waverly wonders if she even feels anything at all. “Jesus, you’re freezing.”

“Really?” Nicole says, almost surprised to hear it.

“You need to warm up,” Waverly says. Nicole lowers her back to the ground. It almost feels slick beneath her feet. Nicole clutches her hand tightly and leads her towards the blue door. Waverly’s heartbeat races. “Are you sure?”

“I choose you,” Nicole says.

She steps into the Nedley’s home and it smells like Christmas, gingerbread cookies and egg nog. Nicole locks the front door and guides her upstairs in the dark, like a person who has climbed these stairs in their sleep. Waverly has too, stayed for many nights in a row and only going home to change clothes. But she didn’t really know Nicole then, no. She’s 4 years older and really didn’t hang out with them.

They make it to Nicole’s room without making much sound and Waverly suddenly realizes she’s never really been in here. Maybe once or twice when they were trying to annoy her - they were freshman and she was a senior - but she hasn’t really seen it. Still can’t see it in the darkness, but it smells a mixture of Nicole’s familiar vanilla scent and a thin layer of dust.

With the bedroom door closed, Nicole slips her hands beneath Waverly’s jacket and presses her palms against her stomach. Waverly shivers, feeling her cold hands through her shirt. Slowly, the hands begin to roam with a feather light touch before Waverly’s jacket is falling to the floor. A rush runs through her, drives her to unzip Nicole’s jacket and push it off of her shoulders.

Nicole grasps her by the sides, clutching Waverly’s shirt as she takes a step back. Waverly follows until she finds herself hovering over Nicole when she sits in the bed, hands back to pressing against Nicole’s collarbones. She feels Nicole’s hands slide around her waistline, tugging gently. Her upper thighs press against the edge of the mattress, her body arching into Nicole.

“Do you want to?” Nicole asks in a whisper.

Nodding, she lowers her face and presses her lips against Nicole’s. She pushes her hands around to the back of her neck, fingers delving into her hair. It comes just below her chin, framing her face and complimenting her heavenly features. She runs her tongue along Nicole’s slightly parted lips, requesting access to her mouth. The kiss deepens and her hand roams, scratching down her sternum to her torso and clutching the hem of Nicole’s sweatshirt.

They pull apart and Waverly tugs Nicole’s shirt off, tossing it aside. Her skin is still cold, so cold that Waverly feels warm. She pauses to run her hands along cold skin, offering a friction to make Nicole’s blood boil until her body warms.

“You have to be quiet,” Nicole warns.

“Then you can’t be a tease,” Waverly says.

“I just miss you,” Nicole whispers.

Her heart melts all over again at her girlfriend no longer trying to be strong for them both.

Nicole sweeps her off of her feet, pressing her back against the mattress and settling between her thighs. The weight feels nice, nice enough that her eyes water, that a tear slips over the threshold. Her heart pounds in her chest, Nicole’s hands steadying her as she lays a kiss against Waverly’s throat.

Nicole peels their clothes off, leaving them scattered wherever they may fall, and presses their naked bodies together as Waverly gives her warmth.

🎄

The baby was screaming every hour and every time it woke Nicole up she felt relieved to have Waverly in her arms. Somehow, her girlfriend slept through the night. Not waking up a single time. Her poor baby must have been exhausted. She lays a few pity kisses against Waverly’s bare shoulder as Pearson jumps head first into a screaming fit

She’s really glad she doesn’t have the bedroom right next door to the baby’s room.

Waverly finally stirs, face doing a cute little wrinkle as she fights waking up. Her eyes stay closed as she moves, pressing her body into Nicole’s side. Waverly’s nipple brushes against her ribs, managing to tickle her, but the surprise is long forgotten when Waverly’s fingers scratch along her stomach.

“I missed this,” Waverly murmurs as she presses a kiss against Nicole’s collarbone.

“Which part?” Nicole asks.

“All of it,” Waverly replies.

“You,” Nicole says, moving her hand to Waverly’s chin and tilting her head up, “You were loud.”

Nicole punctuates her statement with a slow kiss, one that’s soft and warm and kind. Waverly scoots further up Nicole’s body and grasps her hip, tightening and tightening until Nicole reacts to the pressure with a movement of her hips. Waverly smiles against Nicole’s mouth.

“I’m sorry,” Waverly says without remorse.

“Good thing the baby was screaming louder,” Nicole says.

“Are we bad people?” Waverly asks, nails scraping up Nicole’s ribcage, “Having sex while a baby was screaming?”

“First of all,” Nicole says, arching an eyebrow to really prove her point, “We were making love.”

Waverly hums, “You’re the sweetest.”

Angling her body towards Waverly’s, Nicole places a gentle kiss against her mouth. One that deepens rather quickly. She feels Waverly’s palm flatten against her ribcage and use her torso to steady herself as she straddles Nicole’s waist. Nicole arches her back, her stomach sliding against Waverly’s, and wraps her arms around her in a protective demeanor. Nicole moans quietly, sound trapped in the space between their mouths.

She nearly chokes when her bedroom door flies open. She feels herself flopping in defeat when those sweet lips are taken from her and Waverly buries her face into the crook of her neck. Looking at the intruder, Nicole narrows her gaze and huffs when she sees Devon in the doorway half stunned, half smiling.

“Oh my god,” Devon says.

“Oh my god,” Waverly repeats, sound muffled by Nicole’s shoulder.

Before Nicole can say anything, Devon starts to leave and Nicole panics. It isn’t fair. She can’t chase after her very fast considering she isn’t wearing anything.

“No, Dev,” Nicole starts, pressing her hands against Waverly’s hips and helping her off of her, “No, wait. Stop.”

Devon leaves the bedroom door open and high tails it out of there. Nicole jumps to find some clothes to change into. At least she left her sweatpants from the other night on the floor. She pulls those on and grabs her sweatshirt to tug on quickly.

Chasing after Devon, she closes the bedroom door behind her to give Waverly some privacy. She half jogs down the hallway, ignoring Pearson screaming, and hooks a left into Devon’s room. She’s being really dramatic about what she barged in on.

“It isn’t what you think,” Nicole says in a harsh whisper, shutting the door behind her. Devon looks at her sharply, confused and still a little bit in shock. Sighing, she runs her hands through her hair and gathers her bearings. “Waverly is...my girlfriend.”

“Her?” Devon says slowly. Nicole stares at her, hands on her hips. A little bit of weight is lifted off of her chest at finally getting it out in the open. Devon suddenly bursts out laughing, loud enough to combat Pearson’s screams in the next room. “Oh, Chrissy’s going to kill you.”

Nicole pulls a face of disbelief. She’s at least confident she could outrun Chrissy, or anyone else in the family. Plus, her tiny, vegan girlfriend will protect her. What is she thinking? She’s literally a police officer.

“You can’t tell anyone,” Nicole says, using her on duty voice.

“This is the dumbest thing you’ve ever done,” Devon says, “And you’ve done some really dumb things.”

Nicole sighs and drops onto the bed beside Devon. She folds her hands together and rests them in her lap, eyes wide with desperation. Suddenly, it hits her that she doesn’t care. She’s been trying to ease everyone into this, but she loves Waverly and wants her to be there for it all.

She says, “She’s amazing, Dev. She’s so smart and kind and feisty and...”

“Hot,” Devon supplies.

“Yeah,” Nicole agrees, laughing a little, “She’s super hot.”

“Way better than Shae,” Devon comments.

“Look, you have to let me tell them,” Nicole says, “I’m serious. This is serious.”

Devon nods in agreement. When Nicole goes back to her bedroom, Waverly is gone. She can’t help feeling disappointed.

🎄

As she escaped the Nedley household she went unnoticed. When she entered her own house, she still went unnoticed. She didn’t bother trying to be discreet and, yet, not a single person noticed her return to the house. After swiping a change of clothes from her bedroom, she takes a really hot shower.

When she gets back downstairs, it all makes sense. Her mother and Alice are downstairs, but they seem to be the only people present. Waverly starts with a cup of coffee, sweetening it so much that it hardly tastes like coffee anymore. After a minute of sipping, she turns to face the pair at the table.

“Morning,” Waverly says, “Where is everyone?”

“Dad and John are at the station,” her mom replies, “Sent Wynonna to the store.”

“When is Willa getting here?” Waverly asks.

“Around two,” Michelle says, “How was dinner last night?”

“It was nice,” Waverly says. Waverly offers her mom a smile before sitting down in the empty seat beside her. Alice seems momentarily preoccupied with the television in the living room so she thinks she might just take her shot. Except for the part that she kind of wanted to tell her dad first. “Kind of seems like Chrissy is going through a hard time.”

“Babies are tough,” Michelle agrees, “I remember each of you girls were difficult in your own way. You were the most stubborn. Still are. It’s what makes you so successful.”

“You think I’m successful?” Waverly asks.

“Honey, you’re the smartest person in this family,” Michelle replies, “Your dad and I knew from the day we brought you home that you were going to do whatever you wanted to do and all we could do is support you.”

“Can I ask you a question?” Waverly says.

“Always,” Michelle says, smiling.

“When I told you I like girls, how did you feel?” Waverly says, “Did you think I could ever bring one home?”

“You never bring anybody home,” Michelle says. Michelle stares at her, gaze tightening for just a moment before it loosens again. Waverly holds her cup tightly, letting it warm her hands. “You can, you know? I know that we have boundary issues around here but you’re welcome to bring a guest.”

“Thanks,” Waverly says, “I was wondering if I could maybe invite someone over for dinner tonight.”

“Are they a vegan too?” Michelle asks, “Cause I researched some vegan recipes I’m gonna try out tonight. Your sister’s bringing home tofu.”

“Aunt Waves,” Alice yells, running into the kitchen. The little girl wraps both hands around Waverly’s arm and tugs. Waverly looks at the little girl and silently thanks the gods above that she is finally not having a meltdown. “I want to show you something.”

Waverly smiles at her niece and allows Alice to take her hand, dragging her into the living room. If she’s being honest, this is the sweetest that Alice has been since she arrived 2 days ago. She doesn’t want to set the child off so she obediently follows her. Wynonna really wasn’t kidding when she called the child a monster.

“Where are you taking me, Sweetie?” Waverly asks softly, finding herself being dragged up the stairs.

“You’ll see,” Alice says, an excited lilt to her voice.

Waverly nods, pursing her lips together as they reach the top of the stairs. Alice continues pulling her into her bedroom where it looks like a hurricane took pretty much everything out of its original place and threw it anywhere else. The disaster gives her anxiety. Her sister must have the patience of a saint. Which is honestly surprising. God, wasn’t her dad up here last night? He never would have let her get away with this.

“Wait here,” Alice says, pushing her towards the bed to sit down.

Waverly swallows as she sits, feeling like the mess is closing in on her. Oh, god, she can’t take it. She needs to have a serious talk with Nicole about cleaning up after themselves and keeping the apartment cleaner before it spirals to this level of out of control.

She watches as Alice goes into her closet and closes the door behind her. Waverly waits patiently, already making mental notes of what to clean up first. She wonders if it’s safe to assume that all clothes on the floor are dirty.

“Alice,” Waverly says after a few minutes, “Are you coming out soon?”

“Yes!” She yells back, immediately popping the door open and making a production of her coming out of the closet. Waverly laughs at that thought, absently remembering when she had to do such a thing. She looks Alice from head to toe and back again; she’s wearing an elf costume, her dark brunette trusses really making the green pop. “Do you like it?”

“I love it,” Waverly says, giving her niece a smile.

“Do you think Santa will like it?” Alice asks, leaning both hands on Waverly’s knee. She’s looking deep into Waverly’s eyes from maybe only 6 inches away.

Leaning back to get another look, Waverly says, “He’ll love it.”

“Can I tell you a secret?” Alice asks, voice going down to a poor whisper. Her hands slide up Waverly’s thighs as she leans heavily against her aunt, pushing her palms down and lifting herself off of the floor. It pinches at Waverly’s skin, but she’s had worse.

“You can tell me all of your secrets,” Waverly says, whispering back.

“I want to see Santa,” Alice says.

“You haven’t seen him yet?” Waverly asks, surprised.

“No,” Alice whines, voice elongating, “Papa said he’ll be coming here tonight.”

“Well,” Waverly says, wrapping her hands around Alice’s tony waist, “That’s only if you’re sleeping.”

“How will he know?” Alice asks.

“Santa knows everything,” Waverly replies, “He knows when you’ve been a good girl and he knows when you’ve been a not so good girl.”

“I’ve been a good girl,” Alice insists.

Waverly really finds that hard to believe, considering.

“I don’t know,” Waverly says in a sing song voice, “I don’t think he’d be too happy about your room.”

“Huh,” Alice says, looking around.

“I think if we clean it, he’ll come tonight,” Waverly says.

“You think?” Alice says, voice rising an octave filled with hope.

“I really do,” Waverly says.

“Help me, Aunt Waves, please,” the last part of her please drags on for an eternity but when she stops, Waverly readily agrees. It takes forever, but they get things put away in every inch of the bedroom and they can see the floor.

Once Alice has cleaned her room, she shows Waverly all of her favorite toys but puts them back exactly where they go. Wynonna comes home from the store shortly after, complaining about how busy their small town super market is since it closes in just a few hours and won’t be open for a full 36 hours. She threatens their mother for sending her there in the first place.

Now, 2 hours later, and Alice is passed out on the couch. Willa should be here in less than an hour with her 6-year-old daughter, Stella. Waverly wonders how the two girls get along. She hasn’t seen either of them much. Waverly was in college when Stella was born and had just started her Master’s program when Alice was born. She’d already lived in New York City by that point.

Waverly is doing her best to help her mother in the kitchen, despite her mother continuously shooing her away. She needs a distraction from this heaviness in her heart. Being with Nicole has made her so incredibly happy, happier than she ever remembers being, but she can’t say anything. She’s had ample opportunities but the words just won’t come out.

She wants to tell her dad first.

She wants the words to touch his ears before the rest of her family’s. She wants to watch his face contort his unspoken emotions, the ones she’s had to learn how to read because he’s almost always just been blindly supportive of her. She wants him to know before she hears whatever racy thing Wynonna will say. She’s always made comments about Nicole, to Nicole, just to get a rise out of her.

When she looks up, she looks at the house across the street just to see if she can spot her beating heart. She comes up short. Her heart aches at the memories they’re missing out on. It isn’t fair, not really, even though they did this to themselves. Nicole would be so good with Alice. So much better than Waverly.

“What the hell did you do to my daughter, baby girl?” Wynonna barks as she enters the kitchen.

Gasping, Waverly turns on her heel to face Wynonna. Adrenaline courses through her, more than what had heart beating when Devon opened the bedroom door just a few hours ago and saw her straddling Nicole. Wynonna’s mom voice is terrifying, and Waverly doesn’t remember how to breathe.

“I didn’t do anything,” Waverly finally musters.

“She cleaned her room. Now she’s taking a nap,” Wynonna says, feigning a light bulb moment with her own gasp, “You replaced my child with a robot.”

Waverly scoffs and laughs at the same time. Only her sister would complain about her daughter exhibiting good behavior. Waverly simply shakes her head before sucking in a deep breath, poising her mouth to say something along the lines of how ridiculous Wynonna is but, before she can, there’s a knock at the front door.

“I’ll get it,” Wynonna says.

Before she can make it to the front door, it’s being pushed open and a whole load of people come in. Her dad and John have arrived and opened the door to let Willa and Stella in. But it isn’t just them. A scrawny pointer mix comes running into the house, making a beeline for the kitchen.

Cash, she knows because she hears her dad yell at him, comes barreling in and slams what looks to be pretty hard into her mom. Waverly watches on in confusion as her mother melts into a completely different person. A dog person. Not the woman she’s known her entire life.

“Look at my baby,” Michelle says in a cooing voice as she bends down to pet the dog. He licks her face and scratches at her hand when she tries to pull it away. Waverly is very confused. She wanted a dog her entire life and her mother always said no. “Such a good boy, yes you are.”

With a roll of her eyes, Waverly retrieves her phone out of her pocket. She pulls up her texts and types a message out to Nicole, asking her to come for dinner. They can tell them. They can tell them together. It’ll be so much easier with Nicole there, she thinks.

Stella runs in, not far behind, and yells “Gramma!”

Waverly puts her phone away and watches the exchange, finding it a little uncomfortable when she realizes she’s kind of an outsider in her own family. Her mother hugs Stella and picks her up. She has all of Willa’s best features and only a handful of her father’s. Waverly doesn’t really remember the guy, but she remembers there being not a lot of good things about him. Especially since he and Willa divorced.

“Do you remember your Aunt Waverly?” Her mother asks. Stella, in all her 6 long years, has not picked up the act of lying quit like Alice has. That’s probably because Alice is Wynonna’s daughter and not a normal human being. Stella shakes her head shyly. “She’s only here for a few more days. You want to go tell her hi?”

Stella shakes her head in protest. Luckily, Alice comes in rubbing her eyes and wandering right up to Waverly. She lifts her arms towards her and says, “Aunt Wave.”

“Yes, Sweetie?” Waverly asks in return.

“Can I have a hug?” Alice asks, voice a little whiny.

Smiling, Waverly bends down and opens her arms for Alice to fall into a hug. When she does, she secures her arms around Waverly’s neck and doesn’t seem to let go. In all of her confusion, she looks up at Wynonna who shakes her head wildly.

“You’ve corrupted my kid,” Wynonna groans, “You’ve turned her into a sweet, little angel.”

“I love you,” Alice says tiredly, turning her head to plant a kiss to Waverly’s cheek. She settles into another hug after that and Waverly quickly realizes she’s going to have to lift the little girl up and hold 40 pounds in her arms. She isn’t exactly light.

As she stands, Alice settles into the crook of her neck. It makes Waverly smile that she at least had a breakthrough with the 4-year-old. Stella, on the other hand, still seems rather weary of her. She doesn’t blame the little girl. They haven’t seen each other in quite some time and she probably has a lot going on at school or whatever it is 6 year olds do.

“Jesus,” her father says suddenly, standing behind the kitchen sink, “Their lights are an eyesore.”

Waverly turns to look at him; to see what he’s looking at; and when she registers that his comment is pertaining to Nicole’s hard work she has to tamp down being so defensive. She swallows and moves beside him, taking a look across the street. Nicole is putting up two reindeer yard ornaments facing each other beneath the heart shaped tree. Love blooms in her chest.

“I think it’s kind of beautiful,” Waverly says, softly.

She finds herself staring at her girlfriend across the street as she puts the finishing touches on whatever she’s doing and admiring her handiwork. Waverly smiles. Alice lifts her head from Waverly’s shoulder and looks too. In fact, everyone has seemed to gather around them.

“I’m surprised that tall drink of water didn’t bring a girl home for the holidays,” Wynonna says, nudging Waverly, “Am I right, baby girl?”

“Huh?” Waverly asks, confused where this is coming from. After blinking a few times, she turns her gaze to her sister. She stares at her, searching her eyes for some kind of underlying intention. There’s no way in hell that Wynonna of all people has figured it out. She was voted most self-involves in high school. “She’s done a great job with the lights. Considering.”

For a moment, Waverly imagines what it would be like for Nicole to bring someone home. Her mind can’t help drifting to what it was like with Shae. The woman had been a new addition to the Nedley family, unlike whatever Waverly will be. Chrissy never particularly had great things to say about the woman. Especially after Nicole’s divorce was finalized.

“It was nice of her to step in,” Julian says, but then his voice drops an octave, “But this isn’t her fight.”

Waverly sighs dramatically. She says, “Daddy, come on.”

“I’m just saying,” her father says with a shrug, “She doesn’t want to get into a pissing contest with me about these Christmas lights. She doesn’t know fire code like I do.”

“You’re the fire chief,” her mother says, “No one should know fire code like you do.”

Waverly laughs at that.

“Aunt Wave,” Alice whispers in her ear, “I have to go potty.”

“Oh, ok,” Waverly says.

She sets Alice down on the ground but quickly understands she’s expected to accompany the little girl. Stella is still clinging to anyone else but her. Waverly really doesn’t get another moment to try to interact with her because Alice is dragging her out of the kitchen and towards the bathroom with her.

🎄

Keeping secrets is really, really hard. Especially for Devon. There was the time that Devon found out Nicole got secretly married in Las Vegas and immediately told everyone. That’s one thing she’s envious of her oldest sister about - her ability to have secrets, to have things just to herself.

And she’s trying to remind herself that it’s a big leap of faith that Nicole would trust her with this after everything, but damn it’s all she can think about.

She can’t believe it, honestly. She’s still a little shocked. They’ve literally known Waverly their entire life and Nicole never, not one time, mentioned her. Not when they were younger. Granted, she was a senior when Chrissy and Waverly were freshman. And she, Devon, had merely been an 8th grader. She was out of the loop with both of her sisters.

But Devon has never been very good at secrets.

Not even her own.

When Nicole left her bedroom earlier that morning before her next task for the day, digging out the tree from the attic and bringing it down with the decorations (bless her for doing all of the heavy lifting), the word secret alone started eating her from the inside out.

Devon knows that she has no choice but to separate herself from the rest of the family. Even though decorating the Christmas tree is her favorite family Christmas activity, she really doesn’t want to go downstairs (damn Nicole for telling her a secret). After being yelled at by her mother to come downstairs a handful of times, she finally gives in.

As she goes down the stairs, she shoots daggers at the back of her sister’s head.

At least there’s a saving grace. She holds in her hands a gift for the newborn baby. He’s almost a month old. Or he will be by the time Christmas rolls around. Even though he screams his head off all of the time, her mother assures her it’s normal, he’s still adorable.

She saves all of her glares for Nicole. So when she looks at Chrissy with a surprisingly sleeping bundle of lungs in her arms, she smiles. She says, “I got something for him.”

“Oh, Dev,” Chrissy says, eyes watering, “You didn’t have to.”

“He’s my nephew,” Devon says with a shrug.

She pushes the present towards Chrissy and they exchange gifts, doing her best to keep Pearson from waking as she gets him comfortable in her arms. Chrissy holds the tiny box in her hands and examines it, like she’s trying to crack the code of what’s inside. Motherhood has changed her. She used to rip into gifts like nobody’s business.

Slowly, she opens it. Peering inside, Chrissy’s mouth drops open. Her eyes well even more. She reads, “ _Baby’s first Christmas_.”

Devon glances over to Nicole, fixing her with a mix of a glare and a smirk. It’s a rather difficult feat to do, but she’s definitely the better aunt. She got the ornament.

“Dev,” Chrissy says her name like she’s in shock as she stands up and wraps her arms around Devon, careful not to crush the baby, “Thank you so much.”

“It’s tradition,” Devon replies, patting Chrissy’s shoulder. She must be happy because she doesn’t even try to take the baby back. Chrissy makes her way over to Nicole and shows it off, like it’s a new piece of jewelry.

“Awe, Dev,” Nicole says, voice teasing, “It matches yours. You just changed the four into a nine.”

“Did not!” Devon says, glaring at Nicole again.

“Oh my god,” Chrissy says, slapping Nicole in the chest so hard she cringes and rubs the spot. Devon laughs at her. Nicole gives her a glare back, finally. “What happened to her old one?”

“I threw it away,” Nicole says with a shrug, “I got her a new one for the year she was reborn.”

Devon fights the tears jumping to the corners of her eyes. She’s trying to be mad at Nicole, then she goes and says things like that. It just isn’t fair.

All she knows is if Waverly hurts Nicole, she’s getting on the first plane out and kicking her cute little butt.

🎄

After trying all day to find a moment to tell her parents, Nicole is feeling like an absolute failure.

It wasn’t for lack of trying.

Except her parents spent a good portion of the day running around town, picking up some last minute things for all of their Christmas traditions. And when they were around, her mom had her climbing the stairs of the attic and bringing down the many, many, many boxes of Christmas decorations she’s acquired over the years. At least the house is decorated now.

She’s feeling a little...distraught that she hasn’t gotten to speak with Waverly much. She knows that the entire family is together now. She wonders what they do on Christmas Eve, what traditions are must haves and what ones change from year to year.

Nicole feels a little guilty at the prospect of leaving her own family to join Waverly for dinner. On one hand, she knows it’s something she has to do. But, on the other, it’s the first Christmas she’s been to visit her family in 5 years. Since joining the police force, she was never granted the vacation surrounding the holidays to come back and spend time with them. Not until this year, when she got promoted.

She finally settles on her blue sweater and tugs it on over her head. Despite having known Waverly’s family most of her life, it doesn’t make her feel any less nervous. If anything, it makes her more nervous. She doesn’t know their true feelings about her. Sitting on the bed, she runs her hands through her hair. After releasing a huge sigh, one that really allows her to feel the exhaustion from the last few days, she pulls her shoes on and ties the laces.

A knock on her door takes her out of the beginnings of her zoning out. She laughs at Devon having learned how to knock. All it took was giving her a secret to protect. It isn’t like it’s the first time Devon has walked in on her in a compromising situation.

She goes over to the door and opens it, surprised when it isn’t Devon but the brunette from across the street. She’s seen many pictures of this woman from Waverly, and she’s heard lots of stories. She’s heard a few from her father as well. Particularly ones regarding how she likes to cause trouble. But from what Waverly says; she has her act together now with a 4-year-old, a steady boyfriend, and a job as a 9-1-1 responder their dad got her.

“Um,” Nicole says, confused.

“Hey,” Wynonna says, voice a little higher than normal. The tone is familiar, suggestive, like back when Nicole was a freshman and Wynonna would hit on her just to get a reaction out of her. She never was Nicole’s type. “Long time no see.”

“Yeah,” Nicole agrees, nodding.

“Whatcha been up to?” Wynonna asks, leaning against the doorframe.

“Working,” Nicole says slowly. Wynonna smiles and it looks weird, looks kind of...like Waverly’s in a way that makes her skin crawl. They stare at each other, undoubtedly with very different looks. “What are you doing here?”

“My mom sent me over to borrow some sugar from your mom,” Wynonna explains, pointing at her with a rather lazy index finger. Nicole quirks an eyebrow at that thinking how helpful it sounds. Not at all like the Wynonna she remembers. “Thought that I would swing by and see something sweet while I was here.”

“Oh yeah?” Nicole asks, gaze narrowing in on the woman.

“Yeah,” Wynonna says. She presses a hand against Nicole’s chest and she instinctively steps back, attempting to put a foot of distance between them. Wynonna uses this opportunity to step into her bedroom and lean heavily against the bed. She leans back onto her arms, palms pressing against the mattress, and says, “I’ve always wondered...”

She can only wonder where this might be going. She watches Wynonna carefully, looking for any context clues about what the hell might be going on. So far, she lacks any sort of understanding.

“Wondered...?” Nicole finally says, tilting her head slightly in confusion.

“Why’d you never, you know,” Wynonna says, wiggling her eyebrows, “Take me up on my offer?”

“You were kidding,” Nicole says, small laugh tumbling out of her mouth.

“Maybe I was then,” Wynonna says.

She drags her eyes up and down the length of Nicole’s body, making it completely obvious that she’s checking her out. Nicole swallows. She’s never felt like such a piece of meat in her life. And she arrests drunk men almost every evening shift.

“Ok?” Nicole says.

There’s a loud noise outside that reverberates against the house. Eyebrows crinkle as she tries to listen. It gets louder so she turns her attention towards the window and leans towards it to get a look at what’s going on.

“You gonna leave me hanging, Haught stuff?” Wynonna asks.

Nicole’s attention is snapped back to Wynonna, halting her in her tracks. Her mind starts reeling at whatever Wynonna is doing. She studies the woman for a moment, trying to gauge if she’s being serious or not. By Wynonna’s behavior, she’s guessing that Waverly didn’t tell her. She’s even more disappointed, but also a little bit relieved that her girlfriend seems to be in the same boat.

“I’m not-“ Nicole starts.

But she’s cut off when Wynonna says, “You’re not? Then come over here.”

“You have a boyfriend,” Nicole says dumbly. She doesn’t know why of all things she says that, why she doesn’t say she has a girlfriend. There’s another noise outside so she steps closer to the window.

“We break up all the time,” Wynonna replies.

Nicole looks at her again, not quite believing her and, honestly, not believing herself either. What in the he’ll is going on? Suddenly Waverly’s sister is interested in her? She must know. She has to.

“Are you broken up now?” Nicole asks, not really sure why she’s even entertaining this.

Shrugging, Wynonna fully pushes off of the bed. She stands to her full height and Nicole is reminded that she isn’t much taller than the woman. Maybe just a few inches. For some reason, she slides her gaze down the length of the woman and takes in her appearance. Is she overdressed for dinner? Wynonna’s only wearing a t-shirt and some skinny jeans and some ankle high boots. At least those are nice.

“Do you want us to be broken up?” Wynonna asks.

“What are you...?” Nicole starts but stops herself, realizing this must all be a sick joke. There’s another noise outside. Nicole sighs and turns to look towards it again, but is stopped by a pressure on her forearm. She turns back towards Wynonna, noting her hand pressed against Nicole’s arm and creeping up. “Are you serious?”

“I’ve always thought you were hot, Haught,” Wynonna says.

Nicole’s gaze tightens as she looks for any sign of seriousness. Before she can even really look into Wynonna’s eyes there’s another noise outside. Nicole finally can’t take it anymore. She has to check on things. She grasps Wynonna by her upper arms and moves her slightly out of her way.

“Excuse me,” Nicole says.

She moves around Wynonna and bolts towards the stairs. As she reaches the top, she sees the open front door and it makes her heart pound in her chest. She takes the stairs quickly, skipping the last 2, and continues for the door. She takes a look outside and sees her father at the edge of the driveway, but he isn’t alone.

“Hey,” Wynonna whines from the top of the stairs.

Nicole looks at her but only for a second. Her brain is racing a million miles a minute, trying to catch up but not quite able to. The lights outside click on automatically, the timer she set up this afternoon when she set up the reindeer by the tree with the heart shaped lights finally doing its job. She gulps at the realization that her dad is yelling, yelling. She shakes her head and charges for the door, his heart attack lingering in her mind.

Taking long strides, she becomes more aware of what her dad is saying. It sounds like they’re fighting about the Christmas lights, or at least that’s what started it. Her father and Julian seem to just be exchanging insults about police officers and firefighters. Exactly what she needs, her father and her girlfriend’s father to have a brawl in the yard on Christmas Eve.

She steps out onto the concrete of the driveway, but her shoes don’t find a grip. Her left foot slides and she overcompensates first the movement by leaning back. Her feet fly out from beneath her and she’s suddenly laying on her back. A dog runs by her and she’s really confused now. Her dad and Julian don’t even stop yelling at each other. But now Wynonna is also yelling from the doorway of her house. She even thinks Waverly is yelling from across the street. Maybe a black hole cold just open up and suck her into it.

Slowly, she sits up. Her lungs scream for air, the wind having been knocked out of her with the fall. She definitely got better air when she was laying on her back. The air up here just seems...not good enough. She blinks and looks at her dad and Julian. They’re in each other’s face now.

She gets herself to her feet and moves closer to the argument, this time being more careful with her steps. She looks across the street at all of the faces in the doorway of the house. They look innocent, but nosy. Maybe she’s the nosiest one of all considering she’s about to step in the middle of the action.

“Dad,” Nicole says, foot starting to slip again on the ice, but he doesn’t hear her.

“You don’t do anything around this town,” Randy says, “You just take the people’s tax dollars and sit around that station watching your cable television.”

The dog runs by again and she almost thinks this would be comical if it weren’t so serious.

“What exactly is your problem with me, Nedley?” Julian says, “Because it sounds like you’re searching for some sort of issue to have.”

“What’s going on?” Nicole asks.

“I don’t need to look very hard,” Randy says.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Julian says, scoffing.

“It means you took advantage of a poor woman who just lost her husband and the only thing to come of it is that daughter of yours,” Randy snaps.

“Dad,” Nicole interjects, tone a warning. Pressing her hand against his shoulder, preparing to step in if a single bad thing comes up about Waverly. She can’t take that. Hell, she can barely take this anymore. “Stop.”

“Better listen to her, Randy,” Julian says, “Cause I won’t have you say a single thing about my daughter.”

Nicole looks Julian in the eye, like he’s challenging her too, and she refuses to back down. She’s done with this, this lifelong hate her dad has had for his neighbor, hiding her relationship from her family because she doesn’t want to hurt anyone, not being with Waverly for no really good reason. Nicole stands up straighter, spine cracking with the movement.

“Me neither,” she finally says. Her gaze shifts from Julian to her dad and she moves closer to Waverly’s dad, facing her own father. She fixes him with a warning look, thumb digging in to her dad’s collarbone as she squeezes his shoulder. She sighs and says, “I think you just need to let this one go.”

“Nicole,” Randy starts.

“No, I mean it,” Nicole finally says sharply, turning so she can look at the both of them intermittently, “You two need to get along. I’m begging you. Both of you guys do very important work, and I don’t understand why you can’t just suck it up and get along. You are supposed to work together.”

“That’s never going to happen,” Julian says, almost laughing in his throat.

“Well, I need you to,” Nicole says sternly, “You just need to settle this right now.”

“I’m not gonna listen to some rookie cop telling me what to do,” Julian says. Nicole almost has whiplash at the look in his eyes. Waverly has never once in all of their time together said a negative thing about this man. He crosses his arms in front of his chest, biceps flexing beneath his sweater.

“I just got promoted, actually,” she says, immediately kicking herself for getting wrapped up in this fight, “You know what? That isn’t the point. The point is that you two need to make a truce right now or we’re leaving.”

“We?” Her dad echoes, confusion sliding into every crevice of his face.

An eyebrow pops up on Julian’s head, arching so perfectly that Nicole almost relents because all she can see is Waverly. With just a quick glance, she sees Waverly on the corner of the driveway and holding the dog that was running around. Her eyes are wide, watching on in wayward concern. Nicole nods reassuringly, washing away every bit of hesitation in her bones.

“Sir,” Nicole says, voice kind and calm as she makes eye contact with Julian once again, “I’m in love with your daughter.”

“What?” Nicole’s dad says, voice sharp and gaze narrowing. She sticks to her guns, knowing full well that if she caves she can never look either of these men in the eyes again. Randy sighs and looks down, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You can’t be serious.”

“I am,” Nicole says, voice shaking. She convinces herself that it’s the cold and not her confidence wavering. She hasn’t really ever had to stand up to her dad about anything. She feels a little rattled. She looks at Waverly then, standing there with her mouth dropped open, and makes a decision for the both of them. “Go get your things.”

“Nicole,” Waverly says pleadingly.

“Please, baby, please do this for me,” Nicole says, silently begging her to just go with her.

“You’re not taking my daughter anywhere,” Julian says in a grave voice. Nicole looks at him again. His face has gotten redder and his biceps are flexing even more somehow. She looks at his fists and realizes they are balled up tight, knuckles white.

“Daddy,” Waverly says, now pleading with him, “Don’t.”

“Really, Waverly,” Julian says, finally turning on his heel to look at his daughter, “Her? She’s the girl? She’s the _we’ve been dating for eight months and_ forgot to tell me? I can’t believe this right now.”

“Daddy,” Waverly says again, voice smaller, “Please. I love her.”

“Eight months?” Randy repeats.

“We’ll come back when you two decide you can get along,” Nicole says, voice hollow.

She shoots Waverly an apologetic look before she turns on her heel and heads back towards the house.

Wynonna shoulder checks her on the way.

Typical.

She ignores the pleas from her mom, from Devon, as she climbs the stairs. Poor confused and out of the loop Chrissy comes out of Pearson’s bedroom with the sleeping baby in her arms, confused. Nicole almost feels for her, almost feels guilty for falling in love with her best friend and keeping her out of her loop.

“What’s going on?” Chrissy asks.

“I’m leaving,” Nicole responds, curt and direct.

She doesn’t bother closing her door when she enters her bedroom, immediately gathering her things and shoving them into her bag. Her clothes don’t all seem to fit but she just pushes harder. She gets resistance so she puts all of her muscle into it to zip it up. She sighs, her entire body screaming in anger and frustration.

Finally, she drops down to the mattress to give herself a moment to recover. She didn’t even check to see if Waverly was going to give in and follow her, if she was coming with her. She doesn’t even know what she would do if Waverly doesn’t. In the moment, she had been pretty confident that her and Waverly were a team, the team to beat.

“Dude,” Devon says from her doorway, making her lift her chin up to look at her sister, “What in the hell are you thinking?”

“Do you remember,” Nicole starts, trying so very hard to steady her breathing and her words and also her thinking. It really isn’t working. She feels the adrenaline coursing through her veins. She feels the fear coursing through her veins. The feelings are mixing together and making her vision blurry. “Do you remember when I brought Shae home that one Christmas?”

“Yeah,” Devin says with a nod.

“You asked me how I knew she was the one,” Nicole recalls.

“You said you didn’t,” Devon reminds her, “That you didn’t know if you even believed in that sort of thing.”

“Well, now I know,” Nicole says with a heavy hearted sigh. It takes a minute but she finally pushes herself to her feet. She grabs the handle of her bag and grasps it tight. She steps closer to Devon but stops a few feet away, looking her in the eye. Nicole offers a small smile, but it’s hard to let it linger. She says, “And she is.”

Nicole holds her breath, fear taking the lead over adrenaline as she waits for Devon’s bad news. Waverly isn’t coming with her. She didn’t go into her own house to get her things. But her sister says nothing.

Devon relents under her certainty, saying, “Ok, fine.”

“Will you take us to a hotel?” Nicole asks.

“Yeah,” Devon says, sadness apparent in her voice.

Devon turns on her heel and heads to her room to get her keys.

Meanwhile, Nicole’s heart is clenching tightly in her chest.

🎄

The tears are clouding her vision. Blinking, Waverly tries folding her clothes but can’t really see them clearly. Her heart aches at how her father looked at her. Like he has never been more disappointed in her. It makes her feel nauseous thinking about how she’s stuck between a rock and a hard place, choosing between her girlfriend and her father.

This could have been easier. If only she had told him first. If she had told him months ago. But now, she feels like she’s being ripped apart.

Waverly thinks about their life in the city. They have their own friends, Jeremy and Robin who are feeding their cat while they’re gone. They have a favorite restaurant, a vegan place a few blocks from their apartment. They have an apartment together, a place where her things and Nicole’s things mix together, complimenting each other so well. She worries about her girlfriend - her safety, whether she’s eating, if she’s getting enough sleep. She has to go with Nicole, has to pick her just like she picked Waverly.

As she gives up trying to be neat and organized, Wynonna charges into her bedroom. Waverly wants to cower beneath her sister’s angry gaze, but she has to stand her ground. She has to. For Nicole. For their life together.

“Stop being ridiculous,” Wynonna says.

“Wynonna,” Waverly says desperately, “I can’t.”

“Just put the bag down,” Wynonna replies like it’s an obvious option.

“No, I mean, I can’t do this right now,” Waverly says, “I have to go.”

“You’re not leaving,” Wynonna says, voice rising an octave.

“I have to,” Waverly says.

“You’re just going to leave us like this?” Wynonna asks, looking obviously hurt.

“You aren’t getting it,” Waverly says, finally snapping, “Nicole is my girlfriend. We have a freaking life together. A good one, and I’ve hated having to do this without the person I want to spend my life with. It isn’t fair.”

“Life isn’t fair,” Wynonna says.

Waverly shakes her head, doing her best to keep the tears at bay. It isn’t working. She just needs Nicole’s strong arms around her, her warm embrace to comfort her.

“Honestly,” Waverly says through fresh tears, “I thought you of all people would be more understanding about this.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Wynonna says incredulously.

“Never mind,” Waverly huffs, “I have to go.”

Waverly wipes at her eyes and moves around her sister, exhaustion coursing through her. She takes the stairs slowly, one hand on the rail and the other holding onto her bag tightly. The house is quiet as she moves through it. So quiet that for a moment she wonders if anyone is even there. It’s only the sound of Alice and Stella playing upstairs in Alice’s room that makes Waverly pause.

Despite the hesitation, she exits the house and makes her way towards Nicole where she waits beside Devon’s car across the street.

No one else tries to stop her.


	3. In The Middle Of Chaos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All I want for Christmas is for my dad and your dad to be buds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter after this one. Hang in there.

The ride to the hotel is quiet, kind of tense in a way that makes her know it’s because Devon doesn’t know what to say and Nicole doesn’t want to say anything in front of Devon. Silently, Nicole tries to reassure her in the car but Waverly doesn’t know how she’s supposed to feel. The longer they drown in silence, the more her mind thinks about things.

Her frustration with Nicole grows.

Her feelings are hurt. By everyone. Her dad. Her sister. Her girlfriend. This is really not how she thought it was going to go.

Nicole carries both of their bags to the hotel room. She wishes that after feeling starved for Nicole for a few days she felt differently about this moment to freely be together than she does. Instead, she just feels heartbroken.

She takes a look around the hotel room. It’s nice, for Purgatory. She hates it, if she’s being honest. She wants to the comfort of her own bedroom, her own bed, everything going back to the perfect life she had before she came back home for the holidays. Is that too much to ask?

She throws herself onto the bed. It squeaks. The mattress is hard. She wants to burst into tears. It’s Christmas Eve. She really hoped that her family would have a little kindness. Nicole’s family too.

“Baby,” Nicole says softly. She sits on the mattress and it dips so much beneath her that Waverly involuntarily leans closer to her. Her forehead hits Nicole in the hip and she can’t even look up if she wanted to. She feels Nicole’s hand on her shoulder, palms flattening before rubbing across her back in a soothing manner. “I’m really sorry. I know you’re mad at me-“

“I’m not,” Waverly interrupts.

“That isn’t how I wanted to tell them either,” Nicole continues, “But it was eating me alive. I couldn’t take it anymore.”

Waverly rolls over onto her back. Her hair is splayed around her face, tickling her chin. Nicole is already staring down at her, looking at her face like she’s searching for the earth’s greatest blessings. Her girlfriend sweeps her index finger at her chin, pushing the hair away from her face.

“I just wish you would’ve let me tell him,” Waverly admits.

“But you could have,” Nicole says, “We both could have. We just didn’t.”

“You should have let me tell him,” Waverly replies.

“I don’t want to fight with you about this,” Nicole says, pushing her hand to the side of Waverly’s neck and letting it settle there, “I just want to be with you.”

“I know,” Waverly replies. She sighs. They sit in silence for a minute, looking at the other. She can’t tell what Nicole is thinking, but Waverly’s thinking that she might go ahead and cry herself. “I guess there’s no backing out of this now.”

“Oh, was that an option?” Nicole asks, voice sounding heavy and teasing at the same time, “I didn’t know that was still an option.”

Nicole gives her a small smile and slides her hand down Waverly’s sternum, touching lightly as she flattens her hand down at the diaphragm before wrapping her hand around Waverly’s hip. She shivers beneath her girlfriend’s touch, wondering just how they are going to make it through the rest of this trip. Everything about Nicole is warming her stomach, is numbing all of the pain and hurt she has buried beneath the surface. That’s when it hits her that Nicole is feeling the same thing.

“What if my dad,” Waverly says, looking up at Nicole’s face, “What if he doesn’t love me anymore?”

“He wouldn’t stop,” Nicole says.

“How do you know?” Waverly says. She angles her body towards Nicole as she lays on her side. Nicole’s fingers only squeeze her hip tighter. Curling herself around Nicole’s back, she buries her face into the small of her back to wipe at her face just in case the tears fall again.

“He loves you, Waves,” Nicole starts softly, “He isn’t going to stop loving you over something like this. He just needs to process this.”

“Why did we have to leave?” Waverly asks now, voice squeaking as she does. She moves her head away from Nicole’s back and sucks in a deep breath. All she needs is just a second to relax.

“Because I’m not going to let two grown ass men tell me who I can and cannot fall in love with,” Nicole says, voice strong and certain. Nicole moves away from her, standing from the mattress but keeping her hand against Waverly’s hip. “Why do you keep hiding from me?”

Waverly feels Nicole’s other hand against her other hip, bracketing her softly. Her hands gently instruct Waverly to turn onto her back and with a large, dramatic sigh she complies. With everything in her being, she tries to hold back the tears as Nicole presses thighs against her knees and lowers herself until her lips press against Waverly’s forehead.

“Because I don’t know if I’m going to cry,” Waverly replies, “I feel like I’m going to.”

“Baby,” Nicole hums. Both hands move smoothly yet swiftly, grasping at Waverly’s own hands and tugging her upward. Her body protests as she takes Nicole’s lead into the sitting position. Sitting on the other side of Waverly now, she wraps her left arm around Waverly’s back and reaches for her hand with her right. “We are a team, a package deal, if we can’t do this together then I’m not doing it.”

“I know,” Waverly says, barely audible. She curls her fingers around Nicole’s. Her strength is wavering, her energy being crushed by the weight of being a disappointment and the overall layout of this hotel room. Not even Nicole’s warmth and reassurance is making it better. “We are. I just feel...”

Waverly trails off, letting her thought hang in the air. She doesn’t really know how she feels. She knows that she has felt sad and miserable being without this person she loves, but she’s managed to fill in those cracks enough that she hasn’t been hurting too much. Now it’s all spinning out of control.

“Hey,” Nicole says softly, squeezing her hand, “I love you.”

“I love you,” Waverly manages.

“I know it feels crazy right now,” Nicole starts, hands stilling against Waverly’s skin, “But I am so, so, so happy with you and I want everyone to know it. Plus, Devon is terrible at keeping a secret. Seriously, she’s been acting weirdly quiet all day. And glaring at me. It’s kind of funny.”

“Nicole,” Waverly says, turning and slapping Nicole gently against the shoulder. She buries her face into Nicole’s neck and tries not to laugh. If she laughs right now, she’ll feel like she’s absolutely crazy. “Why are you like this?”

“Because I can’t have you down in the dumps, Waves,” Nicole replies, “I can’t take it. I need to see that beautiful smile. That’s what I need after these last few, long days.”

“It’s so hard,” Waverly says.

“That’s it,” Nicole says, standing up quickly, “I’m gonna beat them up.”

“You’re going to...” Waverly hesitates, staring up at Nicole in shock. She misses the warmth of her girlfriend and reaches out for her. Hooking her fingers into some belt loops, she tugs forward until Nicole’s knees hit the mattress between her legs. She continues slowly, “Beat up our fathers?”

“They stole your joy,” Nicole replies with a shrug, “It’s really the only choice.”

“I’m not sure that it is,” Waverly says.

“I just don’t want you hurting anymore,” Nicole says.

“Give it time,” Waverly says, pushing her hands around Nicole’s hips.

“I would die for you,” Nicole starts. Her nose contorts and she lightly shakes her head. Waverly is confused. “No, no. Wait. I would kill for you.”

“But then you would be in prison and we would never see each other,” Waverly points out.

“That just wouldn’t work,” Nicole says with a huff. She leans forward and brushes her nose along Waverly’s before finally placing a kiss on her mouth. The kiss is soft and warm, desire and comfort creeping up at her edges as her girlfriend’s gentle hands push at her stomach. There’s a knock on the door that prompts Nicole to pull back, immediately dropping her head to Waverly’s shoulder. She says, “I’ll get it. You stay here.”

With a peck to Waverly’s lips, she pulls away completely and she’s left with a view of Nicole’s impeccable backside.

🎄

Randy Nedley has done the unthinkable. He’s made a truce with the enemy, the man who hadn’t even let his best friend’s body go cold before he moved in on the man’s wife. But he did it for the sake of his daughter, his oldest, the one who didn’t have to accept him as her own father but did anyway.

Silently, he promises himself that he will try to get to know the man better. After all, he knows Waverly. He’s rather fond of the girl, polite and kind and helpful. If the man had a hand in raising her then he can’t be all bad.

But still, it’s going to take some time to warm up to the idea of his daughter dating Julian’s daughter.

The air between them is very thick. Even with both of them sitting in the cab of Julian’s truck on the way to the hotel Devon says she took them to, Randy feels like they haven’t laid all to rest. Maybe that’s on his part. He’s always thought of himself as a very forgiving man, but perhaps he actually can hold a grudge.

Randy sighs as Julian pulls his truck into the parking lot, saying, “We can at least be neighborly.”

“For the girls,” Julian replies.

Randy nods as Julian puts the truck into park. Hopping out of the truck, he’s careful not to slip on the patches of ice. He doesn’t need a trip to the hospital on Christmas Eve. He just needs his daughter to forgive him and come back home.

Together, they make their way into the tiny office where a very bored looking Beth Gardner sits behind the desk. Randy gives the youngest Gardner girl a smile but really doesn’t even know where to start. He can’t be the sheriff who breaks the law. So, instead, he lets Julian do the talking.

“Merry Christmas, Miss Gardner,” Julian greets. Randy has seen the man in action many times, often showing up to the same 9-1-1 call. He is kind and thorough and has charm like nobody’s business. “You didn’t happen to see my daughter earlier, did you?”

“Yes, sir,” she answers without hesitation, “I believe she was with your daughter.”

Beth is looking at him now, blinking wildly like she’s silently begging for the inside scoop. Gossip isn’t really his thing. That’s more his wife’s area of expertise. He gulps and nods slowly, giving her nothing else to go on.

“Would you maybe tell us which room they’re in?” Julian asks.

“But, sir,” Beth says, voice trembling, “That’s an invasion of privacy.”

“No worries,” Julian replies, smiling wildly, “We’ll just knock on every door until we find them.”

“That really isn’t necessary,” Beth says. She’s clearly giving in. He should really swing by here more to get the scoop cause this girl gives up information so quickly. He smiles, nodding in agreement. “They’re in room twenty-four.”

“Thank you kindly, Miss Gardner,” Julian says.

“Yes, thank you,” Randy finally adds.

They step outside into the freezing cold. He pulls his collar up around his ears to fight the wind. The door closes behind them and the two men glance at each other.

“Nice of you to find your voice,” Julian says, smiling like he really means nothing by it.

Randy tries to remind himself that he can’t let the man get to him. Not if he ever wants his daughter to come home again. And he truly does. He misses her. He’s damn proud of her for everything she’s accomplished, but he still misses her.

“Just didn’t want to break any laws,” Randy replies with a shrug.

Julian smirks. They find room 24 with ease. For a beat of silence, there’s a wordless debate about which one of them is going to knock. Julian seems far more eager to do so, like he knows for sure he can get at least his daughter to go back home.

Randy isn’t so sure. Nicole is her own woman. She’s been on her own for such a long time. She’s always gone for whatever she wanted despite what anyone else tells her. She’s confident and certain about every decision she makes. She’s impulsive. Those are all qualities that make her a good cop.

He gives Julian a nod and the man knocks. It sounds good. Solid. Hard to miss.

Holding his breath, Randy counts away the seconds it takes for someone to answer it. He gets to 6 before the door swings open. His daughter stands there, looking down her nose at him. She looks so tall and strong, almost terrifying in all of her convictions. She holds all of the power.

“What are you doing here?” Nicole says, voice calm.

“Together,” Waverly adds from behind Nicole.

Randy tightens his lips at the irony, wishing he could call them out on the same thing. What are they doing here, together? He doesn’t know why this is so difficult to wrap his mind around. Perhaps it’s the element of being blindsided.

“We want you to come home,” Julian says. Waverly stands from the bed behind Nicole and makes her way over to the door. Randy watches his daughter sigh, briefly turning her attention to Waverly and wrapping it around her shoulders. The affection is readily returned as Waverly wraps her arms around Nicole’s waist. This is real, not a joke. “Please, Sweetie. Please come home.”

“I’m with Nicole, Dad,” Waverly says.

“She can come, too,” Julian replies, voice sickeningly sweet. Randy’s eyes widen. Julian sighs loudly, looking between the two in the silence. His eyes settle on his daughter. He says, “Honey, I just want you to be happy. It isn’t up to me to decide what that means for you. If this is where your happiness is then I want her around.”

“Can you two please just get along?” Waverly asks.

“We will,” Randy says. He looks at his daughter, silently begging her to just come home. She doesn’t relent as easily as Waverly. He’s always known her to be extremely strong willed. “Nicole, I would do anything for you. I hope you know that.”

“I don’t want to keep fighting with you,” Nicole says softly. She moves slightly, her hand sliding down Waverly’s back. He doesn’t want to fight with her either. “I just want us to have a nice Christmas.”

Nicole smiles then. He feels hopeful that everything will work out. He will do whatever it takes.

🎄

When Nicole first steps foot into Waverly’s parents’ house, she realizes that she has never been inside before. When they were kids, they were hardly in the same room. The only time she made her way over was when she was sent to get Chrissy and bring her home.

Nicole doesn’t really get a chance to see the house Waverly grew up in before she’s carrying their bags up to Waverly’s bedroom. The announcement that they would be staying at Waverly’s house that night had initially not gone over well. Her dad hasn’t reacted poorly, not really at all, but she could tell he was less than thrilled. When she told him that she just wanted a decent night of sleep away from a crying baby, he was more understanding. Perhaps even a little bit jealous.

Once setting the bags down by the dresser, she takes a look around. It obviously hasn’t been touched since Waverly moved away, except for the occasional light dusting here and there. She still has pictures of her and Chrissy hanging up, one even sitting on her desk. Nicole wanders over and takes a closer look, eyebrows furrowing at all of the very old pictures she has. She graduated from high school 6 years ago and still has everything littered everywhere.

“Should I be jealous?” Nicole asks.

She feels Waverly’s hands press on her hips before she slides her palms around to her stomach. Nicole leans back slightly, reveling in the freedom to be as they please. It almost feels like back home where everyone knows them as a couple, where they have their Tuesday evenings with Jeremy and Robin or their Friday nights with Rosita. For a moment, she wonders if Waverly will be hands on when they go downstairs and her family is around.

“It’s weird having you in my room,” Waverly says.

Chuckling, Nicole turns slowly to face her girlfriend. Fingers lock at the small of her back and she can’t help smiling down at the smiling face looking up at her. She lifts her hand and brushes Waverly’s hair back, tucking it behind her ear. She leans in, lightly placing a kiss against Waverly’s parted lips as she cups her jaw with both hands. The kiss is reciprocated, Waverly’s tongue flitting against her top lip. Pulling back, Nicole drops her hands from Waverly’s face.

“If you tell me some bullshit story about having a crush on me when you were in high school then I’m leaving,” Nicole teases.

“You wouldn’t dare,” Waverly protests.

Tilting her head, Nicole’s smile widens. She says, “You’re right. I wouldn’t.”

Waverly’s hands wander lower and brush over her ass, making Nicole shake her head in slight disbelief. She gets a mischievous glint in her eye and Nicole leans back, settling too hard against the desk. It makes a loud noise, but Waverly simply follows her lead and slots into the space between her thighs.

“I think I still have my old cheerleading uniform around here somewhere,” Waverly murmurs.

“Now that,” Nicole says, tracing the contours of Waverly’s jaw all of the way up to her earlobe, “I might be into.”

Waverly laughs and leans into her again, kissing her softly. Nicole can’t help herself. Despite having been together the night before it just doesn’t feel enough after the last few days. Almost like her body is craving Waverly’s attention. She kisses Waverly harder, lips parting and tongue sweeping over Waverly’s lips. The desk creaks beneath their weight as Waverly leans into her more, moaning into Nicole’s mouth.

The noise reminds them both not to get carried away, that there’s a house full of people patiently awaiting their return. This realization hits Nicole hard, coupled with the idea that maybe not every statement directed their way is going to be positive. She’s instantly kicking herself for making them leave. Not a good way to impress the girlfriend’s family.

She pulls back slowly. Waverly chases her mouth, but Nicole doesn’t give in. Brushing her fingers through Waverly’s wind spent hair, she says, “We should probably go downstairs. Everyone is waiting.”

“I just want you to myself,” Waverly admits, “I’m happy you’re here with me.”

“Me too, baby,” Nicole says quietly. She smiles, fingers lingering against Waverly’s bicep. She has a cute little Christmas sweater on that hugs her perfectly, but her physique isn’t what Nicole loves the most about her. “All I want is to be with you.”

Waverly pushes up onto her toes, the distance between them getting smaller, and presses her lips against Nicole’s. This time it’s soft and soothing, a gentle promise to their future together. They kiss long enough that their hand positions change, Nicole’s now around Waverly’s waist and Waverly’s now curved around Nicole’s neck. Nicole truly could kiss this woman forever.

When Waverly lowers her heels back to the ground, her lips leave Nicole’s. They smile at each other, some dopey look probably. Rosita has informed them that they look at each other like that sometimes, without a care in the world and they have forever to be together. It’s one of the reasons that she decided to dive headfirst into this thing, the first real relationship after her divorce from Shae. She didn’t want to go 100% into the first one but Waverly stole her heart so easily it was difficult not to. And now, staring into Waverly’s eyes, she knows she made the right choice.

There’s a light knock on the door that breaks their attention. Her gaze lifts to the offending sound, slips back to Waverly. Waverly turns slightly to look, to see what Nicole has seen. Nicole swallows, truthfully confused.

“Hey,” Willa says softly. They both watch as she takes a step forward and leans against the doorframe. Waverly isn’t particularly close to her being 8 years older, and Nicole wasn’t really close to any of them. Willa smiles and it’s warm. “I’m glad you guys came back.”

Waverly turns to face Willa but leans back against Nicole’s front. She settles her hands on Waverly’s upper arms, fingers curling around her arm. She feels protective, wanting to keep her close and keep the pain of the world at bay.

“Me too;” Waverly says. Nicole hears the honesty in her voice.

“Dinner’s almost ready,” Willa tells them, “I hope you come down soon. I’d love to properly meet you.”

She’s looking at Nicole now, kindness overflowing. She thinks she’s much different than the Willa that she knew in high school. She was nice enough to Nicole, but mostly because she wasn’t even a blip on the woman’s radar being so much younger. Hell, even Wynonna had barely been a blip.

“We’re coming now,” Nicole replies, giving the woman a smile.

“No, please,” Willa says, “I really don’t want to interrupt your moment.”

“It’s fine,” Waverly reassures.

“Yeah,” Nicole says, squeezing Waverly’s arms, “Our friends tell us we’re always having a moment.”

Willa laughs politely. Nicole shifts to no longer be standing behind Waverly, slipping her hand into her girlfriend’s. Waverly squeezes it in return and tugs her towards the door. They follow Willa down the stairs where Waverly’s entire family seems to be waiting for their return. The girls, Alice and Stella, don’t have a care in the world as they play with all sorts of toys on the floor. Waverly’s mother is in the kitchen, presumably finishing up dinner, and Wynonna’s face is fixed with a scowl.

“Welcome back,” Wynonna grumbles.

“Shut up,” Willa says, shooting Wynonna a look.

The woman crosses her arms in front of her chest, burrowing into John’s side like he’s going to blindly support her. They two have been on and off since high school. Everyone thought when Alice was born it would put a stop to that element in their relationship. It didn’t. Not at first anyway. Now they seem to have their groove.

Waverly clears her throat dramatically and everyone in the room looks at her. Julian smiles at her, nodding encouragingly. Everything Nicole has been told about Julian from Waverly indicates only good things, that he’s been a good dad and exactly the type of person she deserves in her life. Nicole kind of wants to be a part of that, to be someone a man like that thinks is worthy of their daughter.

“Everyone, this is my girlfriend,” Waverly says.

Wynonna rolls her eyes, leaning forward on the couch and moving away from John. She says, “Yeah, we know Nicole.”

“But you know her as Nicole,” Waverly tries again, “Not as my girlfriend.”

“Aunt Waves?” Alice says. She’s tugging on Waverly’s shirt and they both look down at the dark haired little girl. Her cousin, on the other hand, sits back and watches in confusion. She seems really shy. “What does girlfriend mean?”

“It means that she’s my family,” Waverly explains. Warmth spreads throughout Nicole’s chest at her words. They’ve had conversations about their future together and she’s pretty sure she knows where they stand, but it’s different now that Waverly is telling her family.

“Oh,” Alice says, “So does that make her my family too?”

“Yeah,” Waverly says, voice soft and airy like she’s floating in the clouds, “It does.”

Alice smiles as she looks at Nicole and says, “Hi, I’m Alice.”

“Hi, Alice,” Nicole says, extending a hand, “I’m Nicole.”

“You’re my aunt’s girlfriend,” Alice replies.

Wynonna huffs from behind her daughter like she can’t believe this display of kindness. Nicole looks at the woman sharply, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Thankfully, before anything can escalate even a little, Michelle calls that dinner is ready to be served. The table in the dining room is large enough to fit all of them. She finds herself on the corner closest to Michelle who smiles at her but doesn’t say anything.

Dinner consists of home cooked, deboned turkey and tofu as the main dishes. Nicole doesn’t want to be impolite so she takes a little bit of both. She also made mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, stuffing and macaroni and cheese. Nicole takes a little bit of everything, especially since Waverly can’t really eat everything cooked.

“A toast,” Michelle says, lifting her glass. Everyone else joins as they look at her. Nicole feels Waverly’s hand on her thigh, gently squeezing as she runs her palm up and down reassuringly. “To Nicole, for making my daughter so very happy.”

“Mom,” Waverly says.

Nicole turns her head to look at her girlfriend and sees that she’s near tears. She quickly sets her glass down to reach over and pull Waverly into a side hug. Waverly squeezes her thigh in return and it almost tickles.

“Geez, Mom,” Wynonna says, “Way to go.”

“What?” Michelle says, “All we want is for Waverly to be happy.”

The family reluctantly toasts. Well, Wynonna reluctantly toasts and the rest of them simply toast. Waverly returns to her seat and they start eating the food. It’s pretty good. Throughout dinner Nicole learns that it’s Michelle’s first time cooking tofu. She remembers her first time cooking it. It tasted terrible. Waverly had tried to lie to her, but Nicole knew better. That was when she knew she was in love.

After eating, they take the dishes into the kitchen. Nicole starts washing and Waverly offers to dry. Michelle profusely thanks them as they carry each dish off and quickly disappears to get the presents for the little girls together. It’s nearly 9 when Wynonna and Willa convince the girls to get ready for bed. Willa is staying in the guest bedroom, Wynonna’s old room, and Stella will sleep in Alice’s room.

Nicole hasn’t officially gotten the tour. She’s seen Waverly’s bedroom, but even then just barely. They get the dishes done, the dishwasher packed full and waiting for the next round of washing as soon as that one is finished. Waverly sets to cleaning up the rest of the dishes and Nicole can’t help leaning back against the counter to watch her. She enjoys watching Waverly do mundane things, the precious and determined look on her face adorable.

After they’ve finished cleaning as much as they can for now, they wander out into the living room where John and Julian are watching something on television. They’ve barely entered when Alice and Stella come barreling down the stairs. The toys they were playing with earlier are still scattered around the living room floor.

“Nicole, Nicole,” Alice says, almost in a chant, “Come play with us!”

She shoots Waverly a look before she agrees.

🎄

Waverly blinks as she snuggles more into Nicole’s side, wondering what the weight pressed against her is. It takes a moment for her brain to register that she had fallen asleep, completely warm beneath Alice’s weight on her lap and Nicole’s arm around her back. She chances a look at Nicole, ignoring George Bailey’s Christmas crisis to get a feel for how her girlfriend feels about the child using her as a chair.

To everyone’s surprise, Stella had taken to Nicole instantly. In fact, they both had. Perhaps it was her willingness to join them in whatever odd activity their imagination led them to. After they finally put all of the toys away, surprisingly Nicole’s crusade, they all climbed onto the couch. For a few minutes, there was a battle for which of them was going to sit closest to Nicole and the other one reluctantly settled for Waverly.

Soon after they were all settled, her dad started _It’s a Wonderful Life_. They always watch the movie on Christmas Eve. Personally, Waverly had hoped to be even more wrapped up in Nicole’s arms throughout the film but instead had to take what she could get. She’s playing second fiddle to two little girls who honestly fell head over heels for her girlfriend faster than she did. They even tried to convince her to have a sleepover.

Nicole turns her head slightly, eyes still glued to the screen, and presses a kiss against Waverly’s forehead. Her lips linger as she presses her palm against Waverly’s ribcage, pulling her closer. Waverly sighs and turns her attention back to the movie. It looks like there’s only 15 or 20 minutes left. She feels exhausted and can’t wait to go to sleep. It’s been difficult to sleep the last few days.

Overall, her family hasn’t had too much to say about Nicole being there. The girls have been really excited to bring her into their traditions. Especially Stella who hasn’t even warmed up to Waverly yet. Nicole has a certain charm about her that is mesmerizing. It seems to even be powerful with children.

Blinking a few times, she finally lets her eyes drift closed again. It feels right to be there with Nicole, her nieces and the rest of her family. A comfort spreads through her and it warms her, but she still shivers against Nicole anyway. It gets her girlfriend’s attention and she feels Nicole’s cheek rest against the crown of her head.

They sit like that the rest of the movie. She hears the movie start to end so she opens her eyes again. No one in the room seems to be awake except for Nicole. Waverly looks up at her. Her face is lit up by the glowing lights of the Christmas tree, a multicolor fascination dancing across her pale skin.

Nicole gives her a soft smile before gesturing to the two girls and pointing towards the stairs. Waverly nods, using all of her strength to push off of Nicole. The woman stands up first quite easily, cradling a sleeping Stella in her arms. It takes Waverly a little bit more effort to stand up with Alice, and the little girl stirs a bit.

Nicole carries Stella halfway up the stairs before Waverly makes a move to follow, but she’s stopped by a gentle hand on her back. When she turns to look, John offers her a smile. His hand is gone and he leans towards Alice, saying, “Here, I’ll take her.”

Waverly hands his daughter over, figuring that it would be easier for him to balance her up the stairs. Even without all of that hefty training he did before becoming a firefighter. She grabs on to the handrail and glances over her shoulder, noticing that her dad’s chair has been vacated. There’s some clambering in the kitchen and she wonders if them moving managed to wake everyone up.

She continues to follow them up the stairs, walking past her pitch black bedroom to join them in Alice’s bedroom. To her surprise, Stella has woken up. She had seemed to be deeply asleep. The even more surprising feat is Alice waking up in John’s arms, grasping onto his shirt as she turns to look at Nicole and Stella.

“Nicole,” Alice says, voice laden with sleep, “Are you gonna sleep with us?”

“I don’t think so, guys,” Nicole says. Both little girls look immediately defeated. Waverly leans against the doorframe to watch the interaction, John setting Alice down. She immediately runs over to Nicole and throws her arms around one thigh, prompting Stella to do the same thing to the other. “I’m supposed to have a sleepover with Aunt Waves and I don’t want to hurt her feelings.”

“Oh,” Alice says.

“I don’t want to hurt your feelings Aunt Waves,” Stella says.

“Me neither,” Alice agrees, “But I still want to see Santa.”

“He’ll only come if you’re asleep,” John says.

“That’s what Aunt Waves said,” Alice says, eyes narrowing like she’s suspicious.

“Besides, sleep is good,” Nicole adds, “You grow all big and strong when you’re sleeping.”

“Like you?” Stella asks.

“Oh yeah,” Nicole replies, “I sleep a lot.”

Waverly scoffs at the lie. Her girlfriend most certainly doesn’t sleep a lot. In fact, she hardly sleeps at all. She’s lucky to get 6 hours and never really seems to be tired for a single second. But still, the lie seems to work because both girls release her legs and hop into the bed. John laughs, still managing to shake his head in awe.

After getting the girls into bed and wishing them goodnight, they wander to Waverly’s bedroom. Waverly closes her bedroom door gently and when she turns around she sees Nicole bent over, looking through her bag. Waverly stares at her cute butt for a bit before she closes the space between them. Gently, she taps Nicole’s ass and her girlfriend stands up.

“Hey,” Nicole chastises. She turns to face Waverly, immediately wrapping her arms around her. Waverly pushes her hands against Nicole’s stomach to steady herself. “What are you being all handsy for?”

“Cause,” Waverly says slowly, softly. She grins as she tilts her chin up, her fingers splaying against Nicole’s ribcage. Nicole quirks an eyebrow on her forehead and her fingers grasp at Waverly’s waist. “I love you.”

“I guess that’s a good enough reason,” Nicole replies with a smirk.

“I don’t know how you do it,” Waverly says.

“Do what?” Nicole asks, the teasing look on her face being replaced with a rather serious look of confusion.

“Be so charming,” Waverly says, “Stella doesn’t like anybody. Hell, she hasn’t even told me hello yet.”

Nicole laughs at that. Waverly quickly finds herself wrapped up in a hug. It’s warm and comforting, silently warding off any lingering anxiety she might have about this entire officially meeting the parents thing. Part of her worries that everyone has just been too polite in front of the children, not speaking their true feelings. It’s nerve racking.

There’s a knock on the door that cause them to break apart. Nicole lets her go and turns, sitting on the bed, and Waverly steps around her to get the door. Opening the door, she peeks through the crack. Her sisters are standing there donning two very different looks. Willa looks apologetic while Wynonna looks hopeful that she’s interrupting something.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Willa apologizes. Wynonna scoffs slightly, shooting Willa a look. Waverly glares at her sister. “Dad sent us up to get you guys.”

Waverly looks her sisters up and down, noticing that they’ve changed into Christmas themed pajamas. Sighing, Waverly nods and takes a step back. She totally forgot about Christmas pajamas and she totally forgot about their tradition of playing a game. It started when her parents got together, right after she was born, with Willa first and since then they’ve been adding them in as they hit a certain age. She guesses she’s been so distracted with her worry that she isn’t ready.

“We’ll be right down,” Waverly says, immediately shutting the door in her sisters’ faces.

She turns to look at Nicole who only has one shoe on now. She looks confused as she looks up at Waverly, concern on her face. She says, “Is everything alright?”

“I’m exhausted,” Waverly murmurs as she drops into Nicole’s lap. Her circles her arms around her waist, pulling her into her chest and giving her warmth. She buries her face into Nicole’s sweater, the smell of vanilla and cinnamon taking over her nostrils. She kind of just wants to cry. After taking a huge breath, she groans. She says, “And I forgot about our tradition of us playing a board game together.”

“That sounds fun,” Nicole says reassuringly, “We don’t do anything like that at our house.”

“Fun?” Waverly says, looking at her wide eyed, “We have never one time had a fun game in our house. It’s a bloodbath. You wouldn’t understand.”

“You forget about that time you threw a domino across the room when Jeremy played his where you were going to,” Nicole reminds her. Waverly blushes, having completely blacked that out from sheer embarrassment. Nicole runs her index finger along Waverly’s throat and up to her chin, guiding her gaze over. Nicole smiles and kisses her shoulder. “You’re extremely, terrifyingly competitive and I still love you.”

“Now multiply that by five and you get game night around here,” Waverly says.

Nicole laughs and shrugs, seemingly unbothered by the prospect. Waverly warned her. She can’t say she wasn’t warned. Nicole says, “What game is it?”

“I don’t know,” Waverly admits, “It’s Wynonna’s turn to pick. She won last year.”

“Oh, winner gets choice next year?” Nicole says, “So if I win, that means you’re stuck with me?”

Waverly silences her with a fleeting kiss. Quickly, she changes into a pair of pajama pants and changes her shirt. She pulls on a long sleeve Christmas shirt. When she looks at Nicole, she realizes she hasn’t changed at all. Nicole grins when she realizes she’s been caught watching her, continuing to change clothes. She changes into a pair of sweatpants from the academy and an old academy t-shirt. Waverly watches, giving her the same grin when Nicole looks over.

Once all changed, they head downstairs to join the rest of their family. Her dad is wearing some flannel pajama pants and a fire department t-shirt. It hits her that Nicole is a lot like her father - kind, considerate and protective.

Waverly makes some hot cocoa in the kitchen before they head into the dining room to join everyone else. She hands her dad a mug before sitting down in the seat beside him. The steam rises from her mug so she just holds it in her hands, using it as a tool to warm them. Nicole sits easily beside her, Willa sitting on the other side. When Waverly looks across the table, she sees Wynonna opening a game and tossing a lid to the center. With it out of her way, Wynonna starts digging into the contents.

Waverly reads the cover of the box - _Donner Dinner Party_.

Her eyes widen as she recalls the myth, the one about the Donner family eating each other for survival sake. She’s never heard of this game and it honestly seems horrific to play, but right up the alley of exactly what Wynonna would choose. Rolling her eyes, Waverly reaches for the instructions and reads them aloud.

It doesn’t take long for the game to start and it easily goes on too long, evoking the loud voices of Wynonna and her mother who is usually very calm.

When they crawl into bed, Waverly is exhausted but she falls asleep easily wrapped up in Nicole’s warm embrace.

🎄

When they enter her parents’ house, the sound of a baby screaming hits her ears. It sounds much more intense than the screams she heard at the house across the street, but it doesn’t make her feel any better. She checks her watch to see how late they are and thankfully it’s only a half hour. Things at Waverly’s took a lot longer than they had expected.

It was a late night and an early morning. An early morning that consisted of little girls opening their presents and everyone mostly cheering them on. All of the adults got a gift here and there, save for Nicole who they hadn’t actually been expecting. Her and Waverly had agreed to exchange gifts at home. They hadn’t actually been expecting to see each other over the holidays, despite truly wanting to. Not beyond being like ships in the night.

Somehow Devon hears the front door closing behind them because she comes barreling down the stairs. She looks a mix of desperate and horrified, immediately driving Nicole into concern. She ditches her jacket and hangs it on the hook, quickly taking Waverly’s and helping her do the same.

“What’s wrong?” Nicole asks. Devon sighs loudly, coming to the bottom of the staircase and immediately shoving at Nicole. She leans back but manages to keep her balance. “Hey!”

“You’re late, asshole,” Devon says.

“Sorry,” Waverly says quickly, kindness seeping out of her, “There were two very upset little girls who wouldn’t let Nicole leave.”

“Geez,” Devon says, punching Nicole in the arm, “You’re a hit with the ladies.”

“Shut up,” Nicole replies, gritting her teeth. She chances a glance at Waverly and lightly shakes her head in disbelief. Winding her arm around Waverly’s back, she pulls the smaller woman into her side. “She doesn’t mean that, baby. She’s just being a jerk.”

“Well, she’s not wrong,” Waverly agrees, grinning when Nicole looks down at her. She feels Waverly’s hand on her stomach as she casually leans against Nicole. For a moment, Nicole revels in how easily they fit together. It feels natural and right. Waverly clasps the material of her shirt and says, “Besides, it’s how you won me over.”

“How _did_ she win you over?” Devon asks.

“My charm,” Nicole says with a smirk.

“Nicole Rayleigh Haught,” Chrissy yells over Pearson’s cries from the top of the stairs, “How could you?”

“I’m out of here,” Devon says with a fearful look in her eye, “Waverly, you should come with me.”

Waverly hesitates for a moment but she takes one look at Chrissy and quickly follows Devon further into the house. Nicole sighs finding herself left alone with her sister, all except for the screaming baby in her arms. She could easily just leave, not even look back. Instead, she decides to do the polite thing and get the scolding out of the way.

“You know Waverly,” Nicole replies, “It was pretty easy.”

“And you didn’t think to tell me?” Chrissy says. Nicole sighs again and climbs the stairs, hoping that will lower her sister’s volume level. She grasps onto the handrail and stops just a few stairs down, looking up at Chrissy and a screaming Pearson. “You’re such an asshole sometimes.”

“Stop screaming,” Nicole says, raising her hand calmly, “Just take a deep breath.”

“Shut up, Nicole,” Chrissy says, kicking a foot in her direction. She huffs, annoyed, probably twice so at Pearson’s screaming in her face. Nicole watches as she cradles the baby, holding him to her chest and rocking side to side. “This is the shittiest thing you’ve ever done.”

“No, hey,” Nicole quickly defends, “You’ve had a lot going on and I didn’t really want to pile onto that. Especially if we weren’t going to work out.”

“Eight months,” Chrissy hisses.

“A lot has happened in eight months,” Nicole says with a sigh, “You’ve had a baby. Your fiancé got deployed. Not to mention, dad had the heart attack.”

“And you forgot about your family,” Chrissy retorts.

“I did not,” Nicole says. Chrissy starts trying to shush Pearson and it only seems to quiet him a bit. Nicole flattens her back against the wall when her sister makes it clear she’s moving passed her to go down the stairs. She follows, feeling like she has more to say. “I didn’t forget about you guys. I talk about you all of the time. You can ask Waverly.”

“Oh, I will ask her,” Chrissy says when she reaches the bottom of the stairs. They sound like a herd of animals coming down the stairs. Chrissy turns on her heel sharply to face Nicole, glaring at her over Pearson’s head. “And if you think she isn’t in trouble too, then you’re stupider than I thought.”

“Don’t be mad at her,” Nicole says pleadingly, “I wanted to tell you guys face to face. The timing just never worked out.”

“Because you never come home,” Chrissy snaps, “And when you do, it’s to drop a bomb like this on us.”

“Chrissy,” Nicole says, pleading again, “This is Waverly. You love Waverly.”

“Doesn’t make me any less mad at you,” Chrissy says, quickly mumbling, “Dating my best friend and not even telling me about it.”

“Just think,” Nicole says, grin forming, “If we get married then she’ll be your sister.”

“If you break her heart, I will come to the city and kick your ass,” Chrissy says.

“That won’t happen,” Nicole assures. Chrissy doesn’t seem to believe her, if her eye roll and turning on her heel tells Nicole anything. Still, she follows behind her sister and nephew as she goes through the living room towards the kitchen. Nicole sees Waverly and Devon sitting on the couch out of the corner of her eye, but that doesn’t stop her from saying whatever’s in her beating heart. She says, “She’s the one, Chrissy. If anything, she’ll break me.”

“You sound so dumb right now,” Chrissy says as she goes into the kitchen.

Nicole stops in the doorway, turning slightly to lean against the frame. She doesn’t follow into the kitchen, not entirely sure she’s ready to face her mother’s wrath, too. She sighs, but after a minute she feels a light pressure against her stomach. Looking down, her eyes lock on Waverly’s gorgeous eyes, giving her comfort and support like she’s never gotten from a lover before.

“I’ll talk to her,” Waverly whispers.

Nicole barely nods a response before her girlfriend’s soft lips are pressed against hers, warm and comforting. It’s fleeting, but the sentiment holds fast. Even when Waverly’s hands leave her torso and her perfume wafts away as she heads into the kitchen on Chrissy’s path. Nicole’s barely been able to breathe before her dad exits the kitchen, undoubtedly not wanting to be locked in the middle of the potential cat fight. She knows it won’t go that far. At least she hopes it isn’t a repeat of that fight they had when they were in the 8th grade.

She pushes off of the wall and makes her way over to the couch. Falling onto it next to Devon, she feels slightly defeated. Randy sits in his chair, looking a little put out. Nicole sighs loudly.

“Stop being so dramatic,” Devon says, bumping their shoulders together.

“Has she been like this all day?” Nicole asks.

“Not really,” Randy says, “But she isn’t mad at either of us. Plus, Pearson has been screaming his head off all night.”

“Totally jealous you just get to sleep in another house away from the screaming,” Devon adds.

“No offense,” Nicole says, sighing with her entire exhausted body, “But I can’t wait to not be around children again.”

“Are you calling me a child?” Devon says, feigned offense.

“Girls,” Randy says, warning tone.

He turns the channel to _A Christmas Story_ , the kid getting his tongue stuck to a pole playing across the screen. Nicole wonders if the scrutiny for her family is going to be that much worse than Waverly’s. Really only Wynonna has been weird about it. Nicole doesn’t particularly know why, but she’s pretty sure that Waverly will get it out of her by the time they leave.

In a few short minutes, the baby seems to be a little bit quieter and Waverly returns to the living room. The cushion shifts when she sits next to Nicole on the couch, almost too much space between them. When Waverly smiles at her, she manages a smile back but is still totally confused as to what happened in that kitchen. Before she can ask, Chrissy comes back into the room and the baby gets all of their attention.

“Do you want to hold him, Dad?” Chrissy asks. Her dad does his best to hide his face, the contortion of his nose telling Nicole that he really isn’t interested in having the screaming baby dumped off on him. Nicole gets it, he’s loud and hard to please, but Chrissy looks overwhelmed. “Please?”

“I’ll take him,” Nicole offers.

Chrissy shoots her a really stellar glare before handing over Pearson. Nicole cradles the baby in her arms. His face is red from crying so hard for so long. She doesn’t know a lot about babies, but surely something can make him...shut up. She feels Waverly against her side, cheek pressing against her arm as she reaches across Nicole to tickle at his tummy.

“Hey, little guy,” Waverly murmurs, “I know the world is big and scary right now, it probably always will be, but your mom is doing her best. Cut her a break.”

“What Aunt Waves said,” Nicole chimes in. She looks over at Waverly in time to see her beaming. Maybe it’s at how right this feels, maybe it’s at her being called Aunt Waves by Nicole. Nicole really can’t tell, but it’s a good look on her girlfriend. “I think you’re very brave.”

“Shh,” Waverly says, leaning more heavily against her, “I’m really not.”

“Ok, this is weird,” Chrissy says, “I don’t like it.”

“Chrissy!” Randy chastises, “Please.”

“I think it’s cute,” Devon says.

“Well, excuse me for having my own opinion,” Chrissy says dramatically.

“Hey,” Nicole says softly through Pearson’s softening screams, “It’ll take some getting used to, but you’ll have to. It’s the new normal.”

“I just need my best friend,” Chrissy says with a groan.

Waverly stands up slowly, seeming to completely understand. Nicole watches as Waverly extends her hand to Chrissy. Love blooms inside of her, taking hold of her heart and squeezing until everything inside of her screams with songs from the rest of their lives together. Chrissy takes her lead and the two head upstairs, probably to Chrissy’s room.

At their disappearance, Pearson starts screaming again. Nicole sighs, thinking for sure she had almost lured him to sleep. It doesn’t take long for both Devon and her dad to ditch her, leaving her alone with this monster. If her uterus had been trying to send her a bat signal before, it’s definitely gone now. There’s no way in hell she’s ready for one of these.

She wants to cry after just a few minutes alone with him. Balancing him in her arms, she gets up from the couch and wanders up the stairs. She can barely hear Chrissy and Waverly chatting in Chrissy’s room, and she definitely can’t make out any of the words. Having no choice, she enters the room.

“I need the baby whisperer,” Nicole says in a whisper, like it’ll mean she isn’t interrupting, “He started screaming louder when you left.”

She approaches Waverly with caution but her girlfriend immediately takes him. He almost instantly stops screaming, his crying now down to whimpers. Both Nicole and Chrissy stare at Waverly in shock, the echo of his screams still rattling her bones. It’s really a good thing she can’t find herself thrown into motherhood because she wouldn’t be able to do this without a lot of preparation.

Waverly has managed to lull him to sleep in just a few minutes. Once they put him in his crib in his bedroom, they all head back downstairs to where the rest of the house is. It occurs to her that she hasn’t even said hello to her mom yet so she excuses herself to the kitchen. Upon seeing her behind the counter of the island, Nicole crosses the room and presses a chaste kiss to her mom’s cheek.

“Merry Christmas, Mom,” Nicole says. She pats her mom’s shoulder as she passes. She reaches up into the cabinet for two glasses and starts filling them with water from the refrigerator. She takes a big drink out of one of them.

“Don’t think you’re out of the woods yet,” her mom replies.

She lowers her glass and narrows her gaze on her mom. She says, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Chrissy isn’t the only one who has something to say,” her mom says.

“I don’t think Chrissy’s quite finished saying things,” Nicole mutters.

“Why you felt you had to hide a healthy, loving relationship from us is beyond me,” her mom huffs, clearly hurt.

“I’m sorry,” Nicole says softly, “I just didn’t want it to be a big thing until I knew it was a big thing. By then, it was too late.”

“You always fall in love so easily,” Lily says, “I don’t understand you sometimes.”

“I do not,” Nicole says.

“Yes you do,” her mom insists, “That girl in high school, Shae, now-“

“I’m twenty-seven, Mom. You’ll have to let me live and learn at some point,” Nicole replies, “Besides, this isn’t like that. I’m sure. I’ve never loved anyone like I love her.”

“So you’re going to marry her?” Her mom asks. It’s a valid question. At one point, Nicole had said she would never get married again. The divorce had been messy, not because Shae put her through the ringer but because she didn’t have the time to get divorced while she was just a rookie cop.

She swallows thickly and gives her mom a smile, saying, “Whenever she wants.”

Her mom’s eyes widen, clearly not expecting the answer. Perhaps Nicole’s answer will tell her family how sure she is of Waverly. She definitely couldn’t do this without her, not after being with her. She couldn’t even make it 2 days before she needed to have her by her side.

“And does she know that?” Lily continues.

“I think she has an idea,” Nicole assures.

Her mom has the hints of a smile when Nicole turns on her heel to leave the kitchen, taking a glass to Waverly. Her girlfriend takes a tiny sip from her seat next to Chrissy on the loveseat. Nicole pouts a little bit at the fact that there isn’t any room for her beside Waverly but moves to have a seat on the couch. She watches the movie for a minute, really feeling a little too anxious at what’s to come to sit still.

She gets off of the couch and grabs her jacket before heading to the garage. After opening it, the sunlight reflecting off of the snow and nearly blinding her, she grabs a shovel to make her way out to push the white specks from the driveway. Before she can even make it out of the garage, she hears the door open and close. She turns to look, immediately frowning when she sees Waverly hugging herself tightly.

“Go back inside,” Nicole tells her.

Waverly lightly shakes her head, approaching her like she’s a wild animal that could take off at any moment. She smiles and lifts her hands to Nicole’s arms, squeezing them with her cold hands. She says, “Listen to me, Nicole Haught. Everyone in this house wants the best for you. They’re just all a little hurt that they weren’t in the loop on this. We all want to be with you. So, please, come back inside and freaking sit still.”

“You know it’s hard for me,” Nicole says.

“I know,” Waverly replies with a mock pout, hands trailing around to the front of Nicole’s jacket, “But, please, baby, do this for me? Don’t leave me to fend for myself.”

Nicole can’t help the laugh that comes out at the ridiculous statement. Waverly has always been comfortable with her family. There is no way that they’re going to just flip on her now that her and Nicole are dating. If anything, they’re more inclined to be nicer to her to her face but not hesitate to say what they want behind her back. Nicole doesn’t see that happening anyway, not with Waverly and Chrissy being so close.

“You do just fine with them,” Nicole replies.

“I’m putting my foot down,” Waverly says. Nicole recoils, eyes widening at the forceful yet playful lily in her voice. Nicole has about a million thoughts running through her mind, but she keeps them all to herself. When Nicole gives her a warning narrow of her eyes, Waverly gives her a rather sheepish look. “A momentary lapse on how you feel about the bossiness. I’m sorry.”

Nicole shakes her head.

“Just come in and hold my hand through it,” Waverly continues.

“Fine,” Nicole replies dramatically.

They shut the garage door and go back inside. When they enter, the house is rather quiet still but the noise of the television has been replaced with Christmas music coming out through the stereo. It’s undoubtedly her mom’s decision to listen to music. Her preference is listening to music rather than watching Christmas movies.

Her mother is finished cooking pretty soon after they return and they gather around the dining room table. Nicole sits across from Devon and Waverly sits across from Chrissy, her dad being on her right with Waverly on her left. Her mother, so far, has been rather polite to Waverly about the entire situation. Not that they’ve really had much opportunity to talk.

They shovel out food onto their plates. It’s awkward at first, the air thick with tension of words unspoken but clearly wanting to say them. Their forks scratch slightly and with every sound, her mother seems to cringe. Nicole isn’t surprised. Every year she uses her good China and every year she worries it will be the year it’s destroyed.

“So,” her mother starts, voice shaky yet determined, “How did you two reconnect?”

“Uh,” Nicole starts, shoving food around her mouth as she glances at Waverly. She swallows her food and sighs, not quite sure where this is going. She says, “It’s kind of a funny story.”

“Do tell,” her mother encourages, slightly annoyed tone thick in her voice.

“A mutual friend of ours asked me to be her date and we ran into each other. Waverly spilled her drink all over me,” Nicole says, laughing slightly. She feels Waverly’s hand on her knee under the table, silently reassuring her to keep going even though no one else seems to see the humor in it. Nicole clears her throat and adds, “Anyway, Rosita thought we made a good match. Invited us both to dinner. Our friend never showed up. I spilled my drink on her. It was a disaster.”

“Wow,” Devon says, laughing at her, “And here I thought you were smooth but you’re really just as lame as the rest of us.”

“I was nervous,” Nicole says defensively.

“You were sweet,” Waverly adds. Nicole looks at Waverly then, getting lost in her smile and stupidly staring back. After a quick moment, Waverly turns her gaze away and reaches for her glass. “We’ve kind of just been seeing each other ever since.”

“Well, I’m happy for you,” Devon says.

She sounds sincere, but no one else seems to chime in. They at least let the topic go for now, not asking as many questions throughout dinner. Afterwards, Devon and Nicole clean up while Waverly joins Chrissy in checking on Pearson. They flock to the living room where they all congregate and exchange gifts. Most of the gifts are for Pearson who thankfully sleeps his way through it. The rest of the afternoon slides into evening, and her mother warms up to the idea of them together. She even brings Waverly into some of their Christmas traditions in the kitchen, something she’s never been able to get her actual children to do.

Overall, Christmas is bright, merry and warm.


	4. Life Will Love You Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a cold for Christmas.

A little drunk on her mom’s blackmail eggnog, Nicole follows Waverly’s lead up the stairs to Waverly’s bedroom. Through the window, Nicole sees the display of Christmas lights she hung across the street and cringes at the sight. She can’t tell if it’s because the lights are blurry because she feels a little tipsy, or if it’s because the decorations actually look shitty.

After hours of retelling stories they’ve all heard many times, especially ones where her family tells Waverly all of her deepest, darkest and most embarrassing secrets, they finally decided to tell them goodnight and meander back across the street. The rest of Waverly’s family is out looking at Christmas lights hung on houses in nearby neighborhoods. Nicole feels a little bit like she’s making Waverly miss out on her holiday traditions. 

“Hey,” Nicole hums, grabbing Waverly by the waist, “Let me go to the bathroom and we can go for a walk.” 

“A walk? It’s freezing,” Waverly replies. 

“I know,” Nicole says with a pout, “I just feel bad that you’re missing out on this thing you do every year.” 

“I’ll live,” Waverly says, “I’ll readjust to some new traditions. Ones that I make with you.” 

“God,” Nicole says, “I love you so much.” 

Waverly’s hands press against her shoulders as she braces herself, leaning into Nicole’s hands and body. Shaking her head, Waverly slots her thigh between Nicole’s and uses her to keep propped up. She smiles and leans in to press a soft kiss to the corner of Nicole’s mouth. Nicole pushes her hands up Waverly’s spine, holding her tighter. 

It occurs to her that the house is quiet. She takes a brief look around before her hands continue to roam, fingers slipping beneath Waverly’s wavy brunette hair and she guides her girlfriend down for their mouths to meet again. This time, she kisses her harder and with more purpose. 

After a few minutes of making out, Waverly pulls away slightly. Her cold fingers slide against Nicole’s jaw on either side, tilting her face up until they lock eyes. Waverly rests her forehead against Nicole’s, most of her weight now pressed against Nicole. 

“You’re drunk,” Waverly murmurs. 

“Not yet,” Nicole says, “I’m getting there though.” 

Nicole grins as she pulls at Waverly, heat coursing through her veins as her girlfriend complies when she arches her torso towards her. Waverly sinks her lips onto Nicole’s, mouths moving together with practiced ease as she parts her lips in anticipation. The kiss deepens, tongues twisting and sliding against one another’s. Smoothing her hands back down the expanse of Waverly’s back, she tugs until she feels her girlfriends weight change against her. She turns slightly, dipping Waverly back onto the mattress and pressing her against it. Waverly’s hands encase her, mapping out the lines of her torso. Nicole slips her hand beneath Waverly’s shirt, letting it creep up and up until she’s grasping at a handful of breast. 

Waverly moans into her mouth but the noise is drowned out by the sound of voices floating up the stairs. Nicole groans this time, peeling herself away from Waverly and retracting her hand from her girlfriend’s body. Waverly stays lying beside her like she can’t gather the strength to sit up. When Nicole looks back, she can’t help laughing at the defeated look on Waverly’s face. 

Before she can say anything, Stella and Alice run in. Thankfully, Willa and Wynonna are right behind them, telling them it’s time for them to get ready for bed. Nicole gives Waverly’s oldest sister a smile filled with gratitude for at least trying to wrangle up the children. Both of the little girls pout, trying to convince Nicole to come with them. When they do leave, sans Nicole, Willa closes the door behind them. 

Almost immediately she feels Waverly’s hands against her sides, pulling at her until Nicole looks back at her. When she looks at Waverly’s cute face, heat spreads through her belly and all she wants to do is pick up where they left off. There just happens to be 2 little girls who might get in the way of that. 

“Thank you,” Waverly says. 

“For what?” Nicole asks, eyebrows knitting with confusion. 

“Being so good with my family,” Waverly replies, “You’re amazing and I just feel really lucky that you picked me.” 

“Oh please,” Nicole says with a scoff. 

“Seriously, baby,” Waverly says softly, voice dropping all sentimental and eyes clouding with tears, “You’re so strong and kind. You radiate with it. How could I not fall in love with you?” 

Nicole quirks an eyebrow, reaching over to run her hand along Waverly’s thigh. She feels cold fingers slip beneath the hem of her shirt, walking up her spine to the middle of her back and sliding back down. Waverly repeats the action, the pattern making a shiver follow the path she makes. Sighing, Nicole asks, “Is this about what my mom said?” 

“Kind of,” Waverly admits, “I just knew the moment I saw you again that you were going to mean something to me. I didn’t expect this, but it’s better than I could have imagined.” 

Finally, Nicole lays back and lets Waverly fold beneath her chin, body molding to her side so easily that she wonders if they always would have fit together this well. Nicole certainly wouldn’t say that she believes in soulmates, but sometimes Waverly makes her think that maybe she does have one. The hand on her stomach stills, grasping her shirt at the front and scratching her skin. She can’t help falling in love all over again, heart swelling in her chest. 

🎄 

Waverly feels a little bit achy with the beginnings of a cold. She has a more difficult time getting out of bed the next morning because of it while Nicole has no problem. By the time Waverly can manage getting up, it’s nearly 10, Nicole has already had a shower and has been downstairs for hours, and she feels guilty for leaving her girlfriend to handle her family alone. She knows that everyone will be on their best behavior. Well, most everyone. Wynonna is hardly ever on her best behavior. 

When she makes it downstairs, Nicole is in the living room playing with Alice and Stella. Waverly shakes her head, standing there and watching her interact with the girls. This is their differences. Waverly can handle the baby stages quite easily while she struggles as they get older. Nicole is the opposite. She makes a good aunt. She’ll definitely make a good mom. 

Nicole looks up and finally sees Waverly, face expanding into a grin that sticks and doesn’t leave. Not even as she stands up and makes her way over to where Waverly is. She places a soft kiss against Waverly’s forehead and pulls her in for a warm hug. 

“I’ve been waiting for you to get up,” Nicole tells her softly, “I’ll make you some tea.” 

Waverly releases her from the hug and follows her into the kitchen. Everyone in the house seems to be back to business as usual. When Waverly looks out of the kitchen window most of the cars are gone from the driveway, except for Wynonna’s truck and her Mom’s car. Waverly’s old Jeep stays tucked away in the garage, holding on to the hope that she will return. 

Tired and sick, Waverly wraps her arms around Nicole’s waist and clings to her while the water boils. Nicole doesn’t seem to mind. She never minds. She just leans back against the counter and pulls Waverly more into her body so she can wrap both arms around her. 

“I’m jealous of your immune system,” Waverly says into Nicole’s shirt. 

Nicole laughs. It sounds throaty and melodious in a way that touches Waverly in the heart. The part of her that doesn’t feel well is deeply sensitive and highly emotional. She nearly cries. That won’t help anything. 

“Lots of fluids, baby,” Nicole says back, “Hot tea, orange juice, vegetable soup. I’ll have Devon take me to the store or something.” 

“It’s ok,” Waverly insists, “I don’t want you to leave me.” 

“I know,” Nicole agrees softly, “But it’s my job to take care of you. And I like doing it. I’ll be really quick.” 

The kettle whistles and Nicole reluctantly releases her to silence the noise. Waverly felt the hesitation, like letting go would mean they’ve forgotten everything that’s happened between them and they would have to rebuild. She leans against Nicole’s back, using her as a pillar to remain standing. Her girlfriend says nothing, just pours out some hot water into a mug so she can make the tea. 

Nicole turns slightly and wraps an arm around Waverly’s shoulders, giving her a pout. She hugs her for a moment longer before releasing the hold, a soft kiss pressing against Waverly’s mouth in chaste. Nicole says, “Drink your tea. I’ll be right back.” 

Nodding as Nicole slips away from her, she takes the mug by the handle before turning to lean back against the counter. She watches her girlfriend leave with an ache in her chest. They haven’t spent much time apart since Nicole moved in, with the exception of work, and most of their free time has been spent together. It’ll go away, that passionate need to be near each other. She knows it will, but she really isn’t there yet. 

Before she can even take a drink, Wynonna walks into the kitchen with an empty mug. She refills it with the coffee pot. Thoughtfully refilling the maker to get another brew started. Motherhood has changed her. 

“Morning,” Waverly says, voice hoarse and deep. 

“Whoa,” Wynonna says, eyes widening, “You sound like you got punched in the throat.” 

“Just a cold,” Waverly says with a shake of her head. She finally takes a sip of the tea. The liquid burns her tongue and her throat, strips her of her taste buds that are probably whacked out from all of the drainage anyway. Her nostrils already feel a little bit clearer. Her stomach screams for food, but nothing sounds good. “Nicole’s running to the store.” 

“I’ve been wanting to talk to you about that,” Wynonna says. 

Waverly is confused at why her sister is being so weird about this. She wasn’t weird about it when Waverly initially came out. In fact, she had been wholeheartedly supportive since the moment she found out. She doesn’t understand what the big deal is, she loves Nicole and Nicole loves her. Quite well, too. 

“Ok,” Waverly says slowly, word getting caught in her throat. She sucks in a deep breath, trying to give her lungs some fresh air, but it sends her into her first coughing fit for the day. She quickly takes another sip of her tea, the warmth managing to help a little bit. 

“It isn’t cool to just spring something like this on us,” Wynonna says, “Dating someone is one thing. Bringing them home is another.” 

“Mom said I could,” Waverly says, voice as defensive as she can muster. 

“She said you can bring Nicole?” Wynonna asks, eyebrows furrowing in disbelief. 

“Well, not Nicole,” Waverly huffs, “But someone.” 

“It would have been nice if you asked me,” Wynonna says. 

“I don’t need your permission,” Waverly says. Her throat dries up really quick and she needs to take a drink, but she has so much more she needs to say. Wynonna needs to stop looking at her like a little girl still. After all, she’s 23 and can make her own damn choices. “You’re not my mom.” 

“I’m someone’s mom,” Wynonna replies, “And I can’t just have people coming in and out of my daughter’s life. You should have asked me if it was ok to bring Nicole around.” 

She can’t reply without a drink of her tea, not with how dry her throat is already. Despite her reply sitting on her tongue, she takes a big swallow. It burns all of the way down and plops into her empty stomach at an alarming rate. 

“It’s going to break that kid’s heart when you two break up,” Wynonna adds. 

“We’re not breaking up,” Waverly says defiantly, “I want to marry her, Wynonna.” 

“You’ve barely been dating,” Wynonna tries to reason. 

“God,” Waverly huffs, throat drying out again, “Just because you and John can’t decide whether you want to be together or not doesn’t mean that everyone else is like you.” 

“Wow,” Wynonna says, equally as angry, “That was really mean.” 

“I’m sorry,” Waverly croaks, “It just isn’t fair that you want to judge me just because of who I’m dating.” 

“I’m not,” Wynonna says, anger on her face dissolving, “I guess I just realized that we’re not as close as I thought we were.” 

“We are,” Waverly says. Wynonna’s eyes well up and her sister shakes her head, trying to keep them at bay. It hurts to know that Wynonna would think they aren’t close anymore. They talk a lot for two sisters who love as far apart as each other and are leading very different lives. Sure, she wishes she could see her nieces more, but that just isn’t feasible. “Wynonna, we are.” 

“Then why wouldn’t you tell me something like this?” Wynonna asks. With a blink, all of her tears dry up. Much like Waverly’s throat. She wants to take another drink, but she can’t under Wynonna’s harsh gaze. 

“Because,” Waverly starts, throat feeling raw and steeling her. All thoughts leave her head and all she can think of is the cough rising in her chest. Just what she wanted for Christmas - a fight with her sister and a cold. Lightly shaking her head, she says, “I don’t know.” 

“Well, it sucks,” Wynonna says sharply, turning on her heel and going back into the living room where the girls are still playing. 

With all of her energy drained, Waverly goes back upstairs to her room. The one that hasn’t changed since she moved to the city for college 6 years ago. All of the same pictures hang up around the room like she’s going to return and be that same little girl she was when she left. Not anymore. She’s a big girl now, one who has a good job at the Guggenheim and a girlfriend which she sleeps with, often. It isn’t up to anyone else who she does those sort of things with. 

She’s fighting tears when Nicole comes in. She’s certain that if she cries she’s going to be throwing up and that’s the last thing she wants. Thankfully, her girlfriend comes with some vegetable soup to fill her belly and warm hugs to comfort her. She spends the rest of the afternoon sleeping, hoping to feel drastically better for when her aunt and uncle come over now that they’ve finally returned from their cruise. 

Nicole wakes her up around 5:30 with a steaming mug of tea and a kiss to her cheek. The weight has collected in her chest, her lungs feeling tight like she can’t breathe. She doesn’t feel ailing in any other way, just her brain feeling a little clouded as she fights grogginess. She manages to get showered and dressed just in time for her aunt and uncle to show up.

When she descends the stairs, Nicole just a few steps behind her, she notices that Gus and Curtis are glowing. Their skin is sun kissed and their smiles are bright, probably brighter than they’ve ever been. They had all missed them at Christmas but they look happy and rested. Perks of not having children of their own. Perhaps that could be her and Nicole someday. 

Staying at their house had always been one of her favorite things from her childhood. They always let her stay up late, watched the silly movies she never got to watch at home because her sisters said they were for babies, and always got all of her favorite candy instead of having to pick just one. Then they sent her back home where her sisters would play with her, her mom wouldn’t let her have ice cream before dinner, and her dad wouldn’t let her stay up past her bedtime. Sometimes, when she was really little, she wished that they were her parents. But then she would scrape a knee and the tears just wouldn’t stop until her mom or dad made it all better. 

Her Uncle Curtis was not quite a big man. He was muscular from working on their farm, not muscular like her dad or even Nicole, but they were refined from work instead of working out. He was fit from eating unprocessed foods that they either grow or, unfortunately, slaughter and eat. And his smile is bright like he doesn’t have a care in the world. It only widens when his eyes fall on her. 

“Uncle Curtis!” She says as loud as she can, voice still hoarse. 

“Wave,” he says, smiling and spreading his arms wide so she can jump into him, “Oh no! Did Santa get you a cold for Christmas?” 

“Unfortunately,” Waverly murmurs as she pulls out of his embrace. Gus smiles, not as welcoming with her hugs but offering one anyway. She places a quick kiss against Waverly’s cheekbone, all of her affection just the perfect amount. Smiling, Waverly reaches a hand back to Nicole and, when she takes it, pulls her closer. “I want you to meet my girlfriend.” 

“Nice to meet you,” Curtis says easily, extending his hand. 

Waverly’s hand goes limp when Nicole drops it to shake his hand. They shake hands, both smiling kindly before Nicole shakes Gus’ hand. Nicole says, “Nicole...Nicole Haught. My dad’s the sheriff.” 

“You live here?” Gus asks. 

“No,” Nicole says slowly, like she’s reluctant to be the bearer of bad news, “I live in the city. With Waverly.” 

“Glad you could join us,” Curtis says with a genuine smile. 

Waverly sighs in relief that this is going so well. When she looks at her dad, he’s smiling but it doesn’t reach his eyes. She feels bad about it, wondering if he has some issue with Nicole. She doesn’t want for her dad not to like her girlfriend. Her heart can’t take it. 

“Come in,” her mom says, ushering them further into the house. 

Gus follows her mother into the kitchen while the rest of them follow her father into the living room. Stella and Alice want to go outside, to play in the snow under the brightness of the lights on the house. Nicole readily volunteers to join them. It’s then that it occurs to Waverly that maybe, just maybe Nicole might want this. Two daughters she can run around and play with. Absently, Waverly wonders if Nicole would even be able to do the hard stuff, the scolding and the staying up all night. If she were a betting woman, she would put all of her money on Nicole being good at it all. 

Nicole corrals them and helps them get their jackets on. The perks of them hanging on to Nicole’s every word and doing everything that she does is that she almost has no difficulties getting them to bend to her will. Once they’re all bundled up, they head into the backyard with Cash. 

Wynonna and John are still downstairs. Part of Waverly thinks that Wynonna is avoiding her now, but she really can’t know. She doesn’t know how to bring it up with her sister, especially because the subject matter is non-negotiable. Nicole is her girlfriend and that won’t be changing. 

“She seems sweet,” Curtis says, nodding at the now closed back door. 

“The sweetest,” Waverly agrees. She clears her throat, trying to ward off the cold’s symptoms from her voice box. Her dad stays silent like he doesn’t want to give his opinions when they’re not asked for. 

“Is she good to you?” Curtis asks. 

“Mmhmm,” Waverly hums. 

“Are you happy?” Curtis asks. 

“Look at her,” Julian chimes in. He reaches for her hand and pulls her closer to him. With the gesture, she realizes what’s been bothering him so much. Her affections have shifted from her father to her girlfriend as she’s no longer seeking comfort in his arms. “Doesn’t she look happy?” 

“I am, Dad,” Waverly says. She leans into his side and lets him curl his arm around her shoulders. This is the first moment she’s had alone with him since he found out about Nicole, and they aren’t even alone. She assumes he’ll speak more freely in front of Curtis than he would Nicole. “Everything just feels right.” 

“You look happy,” Curtis agrees. 

“If you’re happy and she’s good to you then I’m happy,” her dad says. 

Waverly sighs and says, “She scares the shit out of me sometimes, but she’s worth it.” 

“Your mom says the same about me,” Julian replies, chuckling. 

“You two are a lot alike,” Waverly laments, bracing herself for him to reject the idea, “It’s one of the things I love most about her.” 

“That’s how it works,” Curtis says, “Girls always fall in love with someone who have the best qualities of other people they love.” 

“Yeah,” Waverly hums, “I guess they do.” 

Before the conversation can go any further, Willa enters the house. She had the morning shift at the local grocery store where she’s the manager. She worked her way up from the bottom, impressing everybody person from corporate who came in. When the store became available, she immediately got promoted. 

“Hey, Waves,” Willa says, giving her a smile filled with pity, “Nicole said you weren’t feeling well. I hope you’re feeling better.” 

“It’s just a cold,” Waverly replies, “Nicole’s outside with the girls now.” 

“I’ll go change into something more comfortable and be right back down,” Willa says. 

“Don’t forget to tell your aunt hello,” Julian says. 

Willa nods before heading into the kitchen for just a short moment and going upstairs. Her dad and uncle settle into an easy conversation about their work. Of course, it being winter, the farm isn’t doing too much at the moment. They are mostly just gearing up for the Spring. 

By the time Nicole and the girls come back into the house Wynonna and John have made their way upstairs. Wynonna has always been more sensitive around the holidays considering their dad and everything. Waverly thinks that maybe after the holidays have passed then this tension between them will fade away. Even then, she chooses to ignore Wynonna’s glare as Nicole helps the girls take their coats off. 

Curtis asks each of them questions, mostly focusing on Willa and Wynonna now that they’ve joined them. Nicole sits beside her on the couch and when the cushion jostles, it makes Waverly cough slightly. She hides it into her shoulder, catching Nicole’s eye with the movement. The weight on her shoulders goes missing when her dad removes his arm and Waverly subtly drifts towards Nicole. 

Julian is preoccupied with Alice climbing into his lap and, Waverly thanks her lucky stars, that Stella is now getting attention from her mother. She loops an arm around Nicole’s waist and rests her head on her girlfriend’s shoulder, letting herself curl around her. Her eyes feel heavy so she closes them for a minute, the chatter around them serving as background noise as Nicole slides her hand up and down Waverly’s spine. 

Nicole’s efforts coax her into a peaceful state of mind, body relaxing enough that her lungs don’t seem to be screaming out at her. Breathing isn’t as easy as she’d like, but the warm spurts of breath against Nicole’s neck isn’t something that her girlfriend shies away from. She doesn’t complain, just keeps Waverly warm with her body heat. 

After a while, they make their way into the dining room for dinner. There’s a soup but that’s about all that Waverly can stomach. She sits through the meal, Nicole’s hand coming back to her every few minutes to convey her affections. She’s sure that Nicole knows her well enough to know that she would much rather be in bed. 

They all stand up from the dinner table and make their way back to the living room. Nicole pulls her back, keeping her hands on her hips before she completely makes it passed the stairs. Waverly feels confused but is too tired to fight it. 

“Let’s get you back to bed,” Nicole says softly. 

Waverly nods and turns her attention to the rest of the house, saying, “I think we’re gonna go to bed.” 

“Ok,” her mom says with a pout, making her way over to hug Waverly goodnight, “Feel better, Sweetheart.” 

“Nicole,” Stella says with a whine, “You’re going too?” 

“Yeah,” Nicole says with a small nod. She feels Nicole’s fingers slip into hers, fitting together easily. Waverly melts, leaning against her arm and letting her eyes drift closed. “I gotta take care of Aunt Waverly.” 

“Let her mom do it,” Alice says, “When I’m sick, I always want my mommy.” 

“Moms are good,” Nicole replies, “But I want to take care of her and it’s pretty cool that she’s letting me. I mean, her mom is right there and she’s still picking me? That’s pretty cool, too.” 

Alice groans and says, “Ok.” 

“I hope Nicole makes you feel better like my mommy makes me feel better,” Stella says, giving Waverly a quick hug. 

She nearly cries on the spot but manages to keep herself under control. Nicole follows her up the stairs, hands lightly resting against her hips to keep her steady. Once in her bedroom, she immediately crawls into bed. She’s colder than she realized, shivering as she pulls the blanket up to her chin. Nicole quickly follows even though Waverly can tell she isn’t actually tired. 

Waverly circles Nicole’s waist with her arm, pressing a kiss against Nicole’s jaw. Her oversized sweatshirt isn’t doing much to keep her warm but Nicole is. She wishes she had taken her jeans off before she got into the bed, so she moves again to remove them. The feeling of Nicole’s bare skin at the hem of her shorts warms her now bare legs as she pushes her foot around Nicole’s shins. 

It’s easy to fall back to sleep. 

🎄 

With only one full day left in Purgatory, they are mindful that they need to pack more time in with both of their families. It’s been rather difficult considering Stella and Alice haven’t wanted to let Nicole out of their sight, not to mention Waverly having a cold. Although she went into the trip believing she wasn’t going to see Waverly at all, Nicole has decided that she doesn’t want to finish the trip without Waverly by her side. 

After months of debating the best way to tell her family about them, being mindful of each of their possible individual feelings, it all went to hell. In the midst of the anger, the tension, the being concerned that they won’t be able to make their families work with them, she’s found great solace in how kind Waverly’s family has been. Wynonna seems to have her reservations, but none that she’s said to Nicole. 

She understands that this could be difficult for all of their families because they haven’t been growing accustomed to this thing between them with them over the months, but she needs them to just make it work. Devon had been easy. She really only has Nicole’s happiness in mind. That, and she’s always trusted Nicole implicitly. Since the moment her mom brought Devon home they had been infatuated with each other. Although Devon doesn’t remember, Nicole used to sit with her whole their parents argued all through the night. That was before their dad ran off. Randy is pretty much the only dad that Devon has ever known. 

To Nicole’s surprise, Randy has been accepting of their decision to be together. Chrissy and Devon has been little when her mom and Randy got married, but Nicole had been much older. She remembers a time before he was in her life. He’s always done his best to win her over. Kind but silent. Supportive in his own way, by letting her live her life however she wants without his input. Nicole appreciates it. She isn’t sure she’s ever told him that. 

Chrissy, on the other hand, has taken this hardest of all. Nicole really wants to get to the bottom of this, but her sister is making it rather difficult. She’s either avoiding the conversation or doesn’t want to hear what Nicole has to say about it. At least she’s being nice to Waverly. 

With Waverly still dealing with the remnants of her cold, she tries to keep to herself. Nicole keeps a cup of warm tea available to her as much as possible, even when Waverly tries to decline. She can tell that her girlfriend is upset that she really can’t get near the baby on their last full day there. It’ll most likely be months before they see Pearson again. He’ll be all grown and forming his own personality by then. 

Nicole finds her dad out in the garage fiddling with some piece of furniture he’s working on. She remembers him having hobbies when she was a kid where he would build pieces of furniture. He built her shelves in her bedroom. Her mom did the painting portion. 

“Hey, Kid,” he says quietly. His voice manages to echo around the garage even in his low volume. She looks at his word working, trying to figure out what he’s working on. 

“Hey,” Nicole says, “What are you working on?” 

“Your mom wants a new kitchen table,” he says with a shrug. 

“She know you’re working on this?” Nicole asks. 

“It’s a bit of a surprise,” he replies. 

“I think she’ll like it,” Nicole says. They stay quiet for a minute as they look at the thing. It looks nice, like he’s using quality wood, but that’s definitely way more his forte’ than hers. Finally, she sighs. She says, “I wanted to thank you for try to make things work out with Waverly’s dad.” 

“I just want you to be happy,” Randy says, shrugging. 

“Still, it means a lot to me,” Nicole says. 

“Of course,” he says. After a moment of silence, she feels his hand on her shoulder and she gives him her undivided attention. Just as quickly, he removes his hand and breathes quite loudly. “Listen, I wanted to talk to you about coming home, taking over as sheriff. Your mom wants me to retire...” 

“Dad,” Nicole says softly, “I can’t.” 

“I can’t keep doing this,” Randy says, “The doctor wants me to take it easy.” 

“Waverly has a good job in the city,” Nicole replies, “I can’t just ask her to leave it.” 

“I know,” he says with a defeated tone, “I just hoped that I would be able to hand over the reins to you some day. I know you’re smart and exactly what this town needs.” 

She swallows the lump forming in her throat. She feels guilty for having to turn down his offer, for having to tell him no. Besides, it isn’t a decision she can make all on her own. It just isn’t up to her anymore. She says, “It isn’t just up to me anymore. I have someone else to think about. I have to talk big decisions like this over with her.” 

“I understand,” her dad tells her. 

She can see the disappointment on his face and it makes her feel guilty. If he had asked her a year ago, she maybe would have gone for it. She didn’t have much going on a year ago. She had a job, but it was still entry level. She didn’t have a girlfriend. The only thing she really had was an apartment. But her life has really gotten better in the last year. She owes it all to Waverly. 

“I’m sorry, Dad,” Nicole says, “I’ll think about it though.” 

“No rush,” Randy says. 

She gives him a smile but they head back into the house. She spends a little bit more time with her nephew but he spends a lot of time either sleeping or screaming. Her family spends a little bit of time together. Her mom finally relaxes for the first time since they arrived, sitting on the couch and enjoying old hallmark movies she missed while cooking. She was a nurse at the hospital but retired 2 years ago. Now she has a pretty difficult time filling up her days. Thankfully she can help out with the baby. 

Nicole feels restless, like there isn’t anything that she can do now that the house is decorated for the holidays and Waverly is right here with her. As she sits next to her girlfriend, her mind gets stuck on the possibility that her dad can’t retire unless she moves back to fill his position. It isn’t fair to put that pressure on her. She feels torn, between her family and her girlfriend despite Waverly not even being aware of the conversation she had with her dad. 

Her brain gets stuck on it. It takes Devon kicking her in the thigh and asking her to come help her move something in her room to get unstuck. She follows her sister upstairs, spending too much of the afternoon moving things around and back to exactly the same place. 

She supposed that her sister is just trying to distract her, or get a little time alone with her. 

Neither of them open up to people too easily. Nicole misses her too. It’s always been easier to tell Devon things than other people. She doesn’t judge and she’s almost always supportive. Even through the divorce she was supportive. Devon was the person she called when things seemed hard. No that she ever truly thought Shae was the one. It just took a lot of swallowing her pride. 

Part of her wants to protect Devon just like she always has. 

She has a lot of reasons to come back. 

But one really big reason to stay. 

🎄 

Waverly is nervous. With Devon and Nicole upstairs and Chrissy feeding Pearson, she finds herself alone with Nicole’s parents for the first time since they found out they’re girlfriends. She knows that there’s never going to be a time better than this, so she clears her throat and braces her most courageous parts. 

“Lily, Randy,” Waverly starts, voice still hoarse from her lingering cold, “I wanted to ask you...” 

Lily looks at her, smiling face of encouragement. She’s always been close to Lily. She’s always been warm and welcoming. Randy has always been kind. Quiet but kind. 

Lily says, “You can ask us anything, Waverly.” 

“I doubt you ever thought I would ask this,” Waverly says, voice catching in a whisper. She clears her throat again as she rings her hands together. She expels a breath, steadying herself. “I wanted to run something by you.” 

“Uh huh,” Lily says. 

“I’ve been thinking that I would like to,” Waverly looks at them both, seeing the very different but very same looks in their eyes. They know what’s happening, but they still both seem surprised. That’s what she gets for springing this on them, on everyone. “I would like to ask Nicole to marry me.” 

“Oh,” Lily hums. Randy doesn’t say anything. The look on his face purely screams with words he will never speak. He doesn’t know what to say. 

“I really want your blessing,” Waverly adds. 

“She loves you,” Randy says simply, “And I think you make her happy.” 

“Nicole is a grown woman,” Lily says, “She doesn’t need or want our permission to do anything.” 

Waverly nods slowly. This is something that she knows about Nicole. Although she is considerate, she doesn’t actually seek permission to do anything. She’s so purely good, knows the difference between right and wrong and has such a clear understanding of people, that she never gets permission for anything. 

Lily moves closer to Waverly, reaching out and grasping her hand. She squeezes warmly, a comfort shooting through Waverly’s arm. She says, “If you need our blessing then you have it.” 

“I hope one day you can forgive me for not making her tell you right away,” Waverly murmurs. 

“You’ve made her happy,” Randy pipes up, “No forgiveness is needed.” 

“Now, Chrissy,” Lily says, “She night need a while but she’ll get there. She just loves you both.” 

“Nothing’s going to change,” Waverly says, “Nicole’s always going to be her sister and I’m always going to be her best friend.” 

“Everything is going to work out,” Lily says. 

“Thanks,” Waverly replies. 

Waverly’s heart swells, having hope that one day soon their families will be able to mesh together. 

🎄 

The goodbyes are harder than either of them expect and the ride to the airport is quiet. Michelle is taking them. Everyone else is back to work so the girls are with her. They cry when they tell Nicole goodbye. 

The weight and distance between them they had when they arrived in Purgatory is gone. 

New York City is going to feel totally different but exactly the same. 

Nicole feels free. 

Waverly can’t stop herself from thinking about their forever. 


End file.
